Programs & Regulations

Traffic Safety Laws

Other safe driving requirements and tips:
Plan your trip - official Maryland Highway Maps and other useful tourism information are available free at rest areas and many public facilities.

• Keep your tires properly inflated, adequate fuel in your tank, your windows clean (inside and out), and your wipers in good condition.
• Turn your headlights on when visibility is poor and use wipers and headlights in inclement weather. Maryland law now requires headlights to be used whenever windshield wipers are used continuously because of visibility conditions.
• Obey all posted speed limits, and reduce speed when conditions are less than ideal. Fines are doubled for exceeding a Work Zone limit.
• Maintain a safe distance ( at least 2 or 3 seconds) from the vehicle in front of you - when it passes some point, count "1001", "1002","1003", etc. If you pass that same point before you get to 1003, you’re following too closely!
• Be aware of traffic all around you. Leave a safety cushion - room to maneuver regardless of what might occur.
• Continually scan the roadway in front of you at least as far as you can travel in 10 seconds, (use 1001, 1002, 1003, etc. to count).
• When sharing the road with large trucks, avoid traveling in the truck’s blind spots (areas beside and behind the truck) and remember that trucks are more difficult to maneuver and need longer distances to stop.
• Signal all turns and lane changes well in advance.
• Use your emergency flashers to alert other drivers whenever they must use unusual care in approaching and/or passing you, such as when you are traveling exceptionally slow and visibility is poor.
• Pass only when it is lawful and safe to do so.
• Don’t weave from lane to lane through traffic and don’t impede other traffic by traveling too slowly.
• Be considerate of all pedestrians and cyclists; yield to pedestrians crossing streets and driveways.

If , unfortunately, you are involved in a traffic crash, Maryland law requires that you stop; give driver’s license, vehicle registration, and insurance information; and render aide at the scene. If possible, remove your vehicle from the travel lanes. Typically, police will NOT investigate an accident if no one is injured and the involved vehicles can be driven from the scene.