If the police pull you over for any reason, one of the first things they are going to ask you for is your driver's license. Whether or not you are able to produce one, as well as the status of the one you produce, will determine how the stop will go from there. Even if you have one, but simply do not have it on you, there may still be legal consequences. Although the outcomes vary from state to state here are a few scenarios you may be facing.
Is It Correctable Or Willful?
If the officer asked you for your driver's license and you fail to produce one, the officer must determine if you are guilty of a correctable offense, or are in willful violation of breaking the law. Depending on which one of these it is, will determine how it is handled.
Correctable Offense
If you are guilty of making a correctable offense this usually means you have a valid driver's license but you have simply left home without it, lost it, or are unable to produce it for any other reasons. In cases such as these the officer may give you a "fix it ticket."
This means that you will receive a citation that will dismissed when you produce the information that is being requested to the court. In some states such as California, you may be able to do this by mail or in person, while other states such as North Carolina will even allow you to submit the information online. Whether you have to pay the cost of court will be determined by the state and/or city you are charged in.
Willful Violation
There are some very common reasons that you could legally be without your driver's license, and should not be operating a motor vehicle. Sometimes you may not even be aware that your license are not valid. Some of the reasons include:
- Your license has expired
- Your license has been temporarily suspended
- Your license has been permanently revoked
- You never applied for your license or other reasons
Although your license could be suspended for many different driving violations that you may have had to hire a traffic lawyer to deal with such as an abundance of traffic tickets, careless and reckless driving, racing, or failure to comply with a breathalyzer test. In addition to these, your license could also be suspended for non-driving offenses such as failure to pay your child support road rage, truancy, failure to pay DMV fees, various drug charges, or other offenses.
In these cases, you will be facing much more serious consequences. Some of these are:
- Fines
- Community Service
- Jail Time
- Additional Suspension Time
- Permanent Revocation
- Additional License Points and more
In addition to these, you may even be facing additional charges up to and including a felony which could have long term consequence on your life. With a felony on your record, you could lose or be refused future employment, lost of your voting rights, inability to own fire arms and more.
What Can You Do?
If you have been charged with a willful violation of driving without a driving license, do not just pay the ticket and pray that it will go away. This is not something that you want to try to handle on your own. A traffic lawyer at firms like Walsh Fewkes Sterba will be able to help you. They have dealt with a wide variety of traffic matters, and will be able to assist you in receiving the best outcome you can expect for your case. Call one today for a full review of your specific situation. Once they review it, they will be able to help you decide which way to proceed.
Share