Did it ever occur to you, while driving around Baltimore and its environs, that respect for Maryland's traffic laws had evaporated like dry ice left out on a July afternoon? Have you ever wondered why?
For a large part of the answer, you need look no further than the District Court of Maryland.
Believe me, if you get a traffic ticket in Maryland, go to court. If your offense is severe enough, the judge might turn down your sheets and put a chocolate on your pillow.
Here's an example from a courtroom I visited recently:
Three straight cases come before a Catonsville judge. A young man going 89, another young man going 89 and a young man going 90 - all on a 55 mph stretch of the Beltway.
For going more than 30 mph over the speed limit, Maryland law provides for a $290 fine and five points against the driver's insurance record.
But this judge? He hands out assembly-line justice. Have a clean driving record, he asks? No surprise, they all say yes. OK, $100 fine, probation before judgment, three times in a row.
Isn't that tender? The young speedsters get a slap on the wrist and manage to keep the news of their risky behavior from their insurance companies. So their reckless behavior gets lumped in with the driving records of the rest of us. Insurance rates stay artificially high for drivers with clean records. You can call it Maryland's Safe Driver Tax, imposed not by the governor and the General Assembly but by District Court judges.
Just a bad day from a single judge? Hardly. Let's look at the colorful driving career of a man who made his debut as a traffic offender Oct. 9, 2001, at the age of 17. He's ticketed for going 54 in a 25 mph zone in Baltimore County. Two weeks later he's nabbed again, this time for 45 in a 25.
He fails to appear for both court appearances and his license is suspended. Finally, the next June, he pleads guilty in Catonsville to both tickets and gets two $135 fines. So far, so good.
The next year, in February 2003, this slow learner is back in court - this time in Towson over a September 2002 ticket for going 90 on the Beltway. He's found guilty and is fined $270. It seems at least one Towson judge recognizes a serious traffic offense.
In December 2002, our driver is pulled over in Baltimore for going 52 in a 30 mph zone. He bags his April 2003 court date and gets suspended again. That September he pleads guilty and is fined $135.
