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Expired Driver's License - court fine is how much??

oona leftoona left Posts: 1,677
edited April 2010 in All Encompassing Trip
I was driving with an expired driver's license. Ooooops. I really, honestly didn't notice.

This was expired, not suspended, not revoked. Just a few weeks passed the "best if used by" date. Completely my fault, needless to say.

I went to court Monday. I was expecting a fine, something in the $35-$70 range. There was no moving violation in conjunction with this, despite the fact that I was tailed by a cop for a good mile or so.

The fine? For a little bureaucratic formality I failed to take care of timely?

$230.00.

That was the money I was considering using to take a couple people to the show in Noblesville!! Gone, just like that.

I was stunned. Stunned! Now I'm just sad inside.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • stardust1976stardust1976 Posts: 1,301
    That sucks! Wouldn't happen here. My sister drove around on an expired licence for a couple of months cause she just didn't realise. When she was pulled over for something, and the police checked, they just told her to renew it ASAP. No fine, no court.

    I feel bad for you, but I bet you'll never forget to renew again!!
    http://giventoart.blogspot.com.au
  • oona leftoona left Posts: 1,677
    What you described happening to your sister is exactly the kind of thing I would expect.

    And, you're right. I'll never forget again.
  • StarfallStarfall Posts: 548
    That sucks. In situations like that, I've seen police officers typically cite people for violation of Sec. 12951(a) of the CA Vehicle Code (failure to have a valid license in possession) - a "fix-it" ticket that can be dismissed if you get the license renewed and show proof in court.
    And, a court fine can be many times bigger than the cost of the actual ticket (bail). I've seen a judge impose a $500 fine on a speeding violation that would have cost under $100 at the time had the defendant just paid it. To be fair, though, the defendant was being a total dick and IMO he deserved the fine.
    (I used to work for San Francsico's Traffic Court, so I have some insight on this, lol.)
    "It's not hard to own something. Or everything. You just have to know that it's yours, and then be willing to let it go." - Neil Gaiman, "Stardust"
  • mookeywrenchmookeywrench Posts: 5,870
    did you get to explain that you were unknowingly driving with an expired liscense? And explain that if you were aware you would have gotten the liscense immediately taken care of?

    is your driving record clean?

    Is yous state going through a massive budget deficit?

    this seems a bit harsh for something so innocent.
    350x700px-LL-d2f49cb4_vinyl-needle-scu-e1356666258495.jpeg
  • Brock SamsonBrock Samson Posts: 328
    mookeywrench wrote:
    did you get to explain that you were unknowingly driving with an expired liscense? And explain that if you were aware you would have gotten the liscense immediately taken care of?

    is your driving record clean?

    Is yous state going through a massive budget deficit?

    this seems a bit harsh for something so innocent.

    none of that makes any difference, the state wants all the money it can get it's hands on no matter who they're possibly screwing. years ago i was pulled over and the cop told me my license was suspended because of a lack of insurance. made no sense to me because i had insurance. i had to call my wife and have her come pick me up (midnight, i had just gotten out of work). they impounded my car and i had to pay to get it out. i had found out the following monday that a few years before this incident, i had changed insurance companies twice within a year, and when i had gone from my original insurance company to the first new company, that company never contacted dmv to say they were covering me. i was with them for 6 months before changing again, and the "new" new insurance company had sent all the info they needed to to dmv...but because of those 6 months dmv didn't have any insurance info for me, they thought i was driving around with none. i remembered during that time i got a letter from dmv saying they didn't have proof of insurance for me, so i brought the letter to my provider and they said they'd take care of it. obviously, they didn't...but the shit thing is i thought they did because i never got another letter from dmv. anyway, i got letters from my former insurance company saying it was entirely their fault, not mine (all on their letterhead, too). they re-imbursed me for having to pay over $100 to get my car out of impound. when i went to court a month later, i brought the letter with me. when i got called up, the judge read the charges and asked how i was going to plead. i said before i did that, i wanted to show him something. so i gave him the letter and explained everything to him. after he listened to me and read the letter, he looked at me and said "well what do you want me to do?" lol, i was a bit shocked at that. i said i was hoping he'd dismiss the charges against me, seeing as none of it was my fault. he then said to me "you need to get a lawyer. i don't think you realize what could possibly happen, here. you're looking at a considerable fine, plus losing your license for at least a year." i couldn't believe it. anyway, he rescheduled another court appointment for me. what i ended up doing was writing a letter to the DA and sent a copy of the insurance companies letter and just explained everything that had happened to me up to that point, including what the judge had said to me. never heard back from the DA, ended up going back to court a month later without a lawyer. sat there the entire night. everyone had been called up. the judge looked at me and said "are you supposed to be here? what's your name?" so i told him and he said "oh yeah, you were the first person called. you weren't here, so i issued a warrant for your arrest." lol, i was 5 minutes late getting there. thankfully he took care of the warrant, but he also said i shouldn't have shown up without a lawyer and he wouldn't listen to a thing i had to say. so he rescheduled court for me again and told me to show up with a lawyer. well, i never got a lawyer (i refused to pay someone to say what i was perfectly capable of saying) and was sweating bullets the day of my third court appointment. right before i left for court, i got a call from the county clerk. they told me i didn't have to show up for court, the DA had dropped all charges against me. so i guess the letter worked...but they took their sweet time letting me know about it.

    i guess what i'm trying to get at is even if something is entirely not your fault, they're going to try to squeeze any sum of money out of you that they can.
    9/1/00, 9/2/00, 9/3/00, 12/31/00, 3/2/01, 4/29/01, 6/21/01, 7/25/01, 8/31/01, 9/1/01, 9/2/01, 4/18/02, 8/30/02, 8/31/02, 8/31/02, 9/1/02, 9/22/02, 3/22/03, 5/6/03, 6/29/03, 8/29/03, 8/30/03, 8/30/03, 8/31/03, 2/21/04, 4/2/04, 4/3/04, 9/3/04, 9/4/04, 9/4/04, 9/5/04, 2/19/05, 7/22/05, 9/2/05, 9/3/05, 9/3/05, 9/4/05, 1/22/06, 6/7/06, 9/1/06, 9/2/06, 9/2/06, 9/3/06, 7/6/07, 8/31/07, 9/1/07, 9/1/07, 9/2/07, 3/7/08, 8/29/08, 8/30/08, 8/30/08, 8/31/08, 7/11/09, 6/4/10, 6/11/11
  • mca47mca47 Posts: 13,283
    My current license doesn't expire until 2046.


    Seriously!


    Here in AZ, driver's licenses expire around 40 years after they are issued!

    Yeah, it's completely ridiculous.




    Anyways, to the OP. Sorry to hear that. I wonder if local and state governments weren't in the hole financially, you would have at least had a chance to get off/slap on the wrist...
  • 8181 Posts: 58,276
    Starfall wrote:
    That sucks. In situations like that, I've seen police officers typically cite people for violation of Sec. 12951(a) of the CA Vehicle Code (failure to have a valid license in possession) - a "fix-it" ticket that can be dismissed if you get the license renewed and show proof in court.
    And, a court fine can be many times bigger than the cost of the actual ticket (bail). I've seen a judge impose a $500 fine on a speeding violation that would have cost under $100 at the time had the defendant just paid it. To be fair, though, the defendant was being a total dick and IMO he deserved the fine.
    (I used to work for San Francsico's Traffic Court, so I have some insight on this, lol.)


    damn liberals
    81 is now off the air

    Off_Air.jpg
  • pickupyourwillpickupyourwill Posts: 3,135
    edited April 2010
    ...
    Post edited by pickupyourwill on
  • oona leftoona left Posts: 1,677
    mookeywrench wrote:
    did you get to explain that you were unknowingly driving with an expired liscense? And explain that if you were aware you would have gotten the liscense immediately taken care of?

    is your driving record clean?

    Is yous state going through a massive budget deficit?

    this seems a bit harsh for something so innocent.

    Massive budget deficit? I live in Illinois! Bring in the clowns...

    The city of Chicago sold the parking meter profits, for chrissakes. Its already a huge debacle.

    My record (which is not spic n span, but not horrible either) did not seem to factor in. The judge didn't review anything, just stated the aforementioned fine, and that was that.

    I'm moving to AZ...
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