WASHINGTON — A lot of Maryland drivers have much cleaner driving records than they did before the weekend began.
Under a new law that took effect on Oct. 1, the state is automatically expunging hundreds of thousands of driving records that show infractions from years ago — sometimes more than a decade. Typically these are people who have been pulled over and given speeding tickets or cited for other infractions of that ilk.
Drivers who have neither been revoked nor suspended for reasons related to driver safety, and who have had no moving violations in the last three years had their driving records expunged. Drivers who have never been revoked, but have been suspended only once for reasons related to driver safety, and who have had no moving violations in the last five years also had their records expunged. Drivers who have been revoked in the past or who have had multiple suspensions related to driver safety, had their records expunged if they had no moving violations within the last 10 years.
In addition, reasons that don’t have to do with behavior behind the wheel will no longer prevent Maryland residents from having an old ticket expunged from your record. That means someone who is late on some sort of fine, or is behind on child support, can also get their records cleaned up.
The state passed a law this year changing the rules for erasing records in an effort to make it easier to get people hired. Many jobs can require a clean driving record, and in the past, residents had to formally apply with the state to have their records expunged.
