There are basically two sides of driving on a cancelled license. Firstly, it may be a case of doing without any knowledge of suspension. It is a civil traffic infraction presented as ordinary ticket. One should exercise caution in handling such a ticket instead of merely making a payment. Secondly, it’s about driving on a cancelled license with the prior understanding of the same. It is considered as criminal infraction and as soon as it’s issued, the cops may take you under the bars or give a notice for court appearance. Professional legal aid is the need of this hour when issued with such kind of criminal citation.
Both the aforementioned tickets are serious issues for it may tag you as a regular traffic offender. Civil infraction could be extra insidious compared to criminal charges as it’s cloaked into benign attire. This leads to people underestimating the kind of damage it may inflict.
The suspended license may land you in jail even in cases when you weren’t aware of the same. It’s up to the law protecting official to decide if the person caught was aware or not. Some people may find it insensible but accepting the fact should be a more sensible approach. Criminal citation issuance depends on the officer’s belief and not on the person’s real knowledge of suspended license.
Unless there are numerous records of suspended license driving in history, the person may be released out of jail with recognition or may be small bond. Car of the person is possibly towed and driver’s license was forfeited. Those with several license defaults on their driving history need to probably post a much elevated bond.
The law protecting official may not take the person behind the bars and instead issue a real criminal citation. It may require him or her to appear inside the court and these occurrences are quite frequent. However, clean record of not going to jail won’t reduce the seriousness of this charge. It merely signifies that the concerned officer is treating you nicely.
There is a need for being careful in some cases. Those who get caught while driving on suspended license even after already receiving a ticket may expect a jail trip. The bond amount could be significantly higher in such circumstances. Not to forget that moving around with a suspended license leads to cumulative charge. On receiving an extra criminal ticket, the person may be charged of a high level crime which reaches up to third degree of felony.
The knowledge of ways the license could be cancelled by Florida State and driving with it is equal to a crime. As a result, it turns out to be imperative to ensure the license isn’t suspended. To know the license status is a very easy process for most with internet access and awareness of driver license number.
Defense attorneys, non lawyers and prosecutor should be aware of the real criminal justice mechanism in Florida. Hardly any good thing can ever happen to those who are caught red handed with a cancelled license while driving.
Image credit: Lisa Young