Under Maryland law, you have 30 days to request a trial, a waiver hearing, or pay the citation for a routine traffic ticket. (If any of the citations are a "must appear" offense, you will receive a trial date automatically). If you fail to do any of these, your driver's license will be suspended until you pay the citation. Therefore, do not ignore the tickets.

The first thing that you should do is determine if the ticket carries points. All moving violations carry points which usually affect your insurance premiums. Nobody wants their automobile premiums to increase so it is usually a bad idea to pay a moving violation. Moreover, accumulating too many points can lead to a driver's license suspension or revocation by the Motor Vehicle Administration.

The difference between a request for a trial and a waiver hearing is that a trial requires the police officer to appear. If the police officer fails to appear, you should be acquitted unless it was an accident and witnesses appear. A waiver hearing excuses the police officer from appearing and you admit your guilt. The only issue is sentencing where you can ask for leniency.

It is always better to request a trial and not a waiver hearing. If the police officer does not appear, you should be acquitted. There is no downside to requesting a trial. If the police officer appears and you do not have any defenses, you can still ask for probation before judgment to avoid the points.