Q: I violated Transportation Article Section 16-113 (f) of MD Vehicle Law and got a 1 year suspension, is this ethical ?
I was in an accident with my learners permit by myself on 2/02/20 and my court date was originally in March but was pushed back more than five times before I got one on 9/30/20 and the judge reduced the fines and the penalties but I found out on 11/23/20 that my suspension would begin on 12/08 unless I appealed and got a hearing. Is it smart to go forward with the hearing seeing that it’s been 10 months since the accident and they are just now giving me a suspension date which wouldn’t end until almost 2022 and I would’ve gotten a sooner date if it wasn’t postponed so many times. I had no prior violations with my permit, no trouble with the law and the judge understood that which is why he didn’t penalize me heavily and basically cut my fines in half. Please, any advice would help
A: Yes, request a hearing, otherwise you will be suspended 12 months. The Administrative Law Judge may reduce the suspension period, or you may be able to defend the suspension and avoid it entirely. It isn’t a matter of ethics. You drove on a learners permit without supervision and caused an accident! What were you thinking? Ask yourself whether you were right to drive without legal authority to do so. Regardless, if you want to limit the penalty, request a hearing. If you want to increase your chance of reducing the penalty, or a chance to avoid any penalty, hire a lawyer.
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