A suspended license is a huge burden on you and your family, especially if you live in place like the Warren County, NC area where everything is so far apart and requires a car to get around. Just simple tasks like to get back and forth from work, or caring for your children, or even getting groceries become difficult and stressful. You don’t want to be in this situation, but if you already are for some reason, there is a way out to get your suspended driver license reinstated so you can put your life back on track. This is exactly what we will discuss in this post. It’s written as a guide for people who need help with directions on what to do next. Let’s get into it.
Pull Your Driving Record.
The first thing you need to do is pull a copy of your driving record so that your lawyer can figure out why your license is suspended. You can pull a copy of your driving record from the NCDMV.
(The full non-certified history for $12.75 is good for court)
Identify the Cause of Your Suspension
The next step would be to have a local traffic lawyer in Franklin County, NC review of your driving record to determine the exact reason your license has been suspended. Some frequent causes include:
- Unpaid Court Fees/Fines: If you plead guilty to a traffic ticket and the judge ordered you to pay court costs and a fine and you missed your payment due date, there will be an additional $50 failure to comply fee.
- Failure to Appear in Court: If you missed your court date and more than 20 days have passed, the DMV will issue a $200 “failure to appear” penalty and send you a notice stating that you have 60 days to resolve your citation before your license is suspended.
- Excessive Points or Multiple Violations: Collecting 12 points at any time, or 8 points within three years, can get your license suspended. And also pleading guilty to too many violations in a short period of time will lead to a mandatory suspension (for instance, two reckless driving tickets in 12 months or two speeding tickets over 55 mph in 12 months). Refer to the resources section for a complete list of suspension triggers.
- Traffic Violation While Suspended: If your license is suspended and you plead to a moving violation, that will result in an additional suspension. For your first offense, it is an additional 1-year suspension. For your second offense, it is an additional 2-year suspension. For your third offense, it will result in a permanent suspension, and you will have a 3-year waiting period before you can petition the DMV to reinstate your driver’s license. During this waiting period, you cannot receive any traffic tickets or your 3-year waiting period starts all over again.
- DWI Charges: Driving While Impaired charges all carry a mandatory suspension. It is also common for judges to order other requirements, as part of a sentence for a DWI, such as community service, an alcohol assessment and classes (ADETS), and in some cases, a MADD Victim Impact Panel. If your breath sample was over a .15, you have to have an interlock (blow device) installed and drive with that for 1-year, regardless of whether you serve out your suspension period with a driving privilege or not. Failure to complete some of these requirements could result in an order for arrest, probation violation and indefinite suspension of your license.
- Accident Situations: If you were involved in an accident and did not have active liability insurance at the time, the DMV will issue a “failure to deposit security” suspension. This type of suspension is indefinite and will remain in place until proper action is taken (see below).
Fulfill All Court and DMV Requirements
Once you know the cause of your suspension, take the necessary steps to resolve it. This may include:
- Unpaid Court Costs/Fines: This is a very easy fix because everything has been resolved, you simply just need to pay your money. With the new electronic filing system, you can now pay these funds online using a credit card. Your lawyer can provide you with a link and payment instructions.
- Failure to Appear in Court: In many cases, your lawyers can submit a motion to have the judge strike this failure to appear, which saves you the $200 fine and reinstatement fee to get your license back (this is assuming that this is the only outstanding requirement needed to get your license back). They will then have the clerk put your case back on the docket and get it resolved ASAP. After your case is resolved, they’ll provide you with payment instructions.
- Accumulation of Points/Multiple Tickets: In these cases, you might have to just wait out your suspension period, though for some drivers, you might be eligible for a DMV hearing to avoid a suspension. In limited cases, you can petition for a limited driving privilege. Make sure you save all your mail from the DMV, because it will provide you with a deadline by which you have to request a DMV hearing or else your right to a hearing is forever lost.
- Moving Violation While Suspended: Similarly, in these cases, you can simply wait out your suspension period and for some drivers, you can petition for a limited driving privilege.
- DWI Offenses: In many cases, we can strike your order for arrest, add your case back on the docket and get everything resolved once you have complied with all the outstanding requirements. If you need to get an interlock installed or have a 508-form faxed over confirming that your substance abuse assessment and treatment have been completed, your attorney can assist you in how to get this done.
- Accident Cases: In order to remove this suspension, you will need to provide the DMV will the appropriate paperwork. The DMV has an affidavit that you can fill out and submit that says you either: 1) have not been sued for the money arising from the accident, or 2) you have agreed to pay back the other motorist’s insurance for the damage from the accident and have an agreed upon monthly schedule to do so. Similarly, if the statute of limitations has passed (the time that the other motorist’s insurance company has to sue you to collect money from the accident), you can submit paperwork to clear this suspension.
Apply for Reinstatement
When everything is fixed, you will need to apply to reinstate your license. You should call DMV’s Automated Number that’s available 24/7 to confirm that you are able to get your license back. You should navigate through the menu until you conform that the status of your license is active or eligible for restatement. If it says suspended, that means that you still have an outstanding requirement or system hasn’t been updated yet. After that you will have time to pay the reinstatement fee.
Final Ideas
So, with other words, navigating these steps is overwhelming and complicated, but it gives you a chance to get your license back. You can even say that your life depends on it if you want to take care of your kids, get a job and just the everyday freedom you once had. You might also be in a tough financial position, but in this type of situations you will want to have a lawyer to help you out. It might be expensive, but it’s worth it. Don’t let these type of things slide.
