Media post: What Occurs if the Police Catch You Driving with a Suspended License?
If you’re a licensed driver, that brings you a degree of personal freedom. If you own a vehicle, and you have a license to drive it, then you can always pick up and drive across the country whenever the urge strikes you. You might have various obligations that prevent this sort of an action, but you at least have that capability.
If a judge takes away your license for any reason, you might feel upset or even angry about that. If you violated the law, though, or multiple laws, then you can only blame yourself.
Driving with a suspended license can bring severe penalties, but some people still do it. If you do, though, then you risk damaging your life in a number of notable ways.
In this article, we will talk about what might happen if the police catch you driving with a suspended license. We will also discuss why some people feel compelled to drive with their license suspended, even if they know about the possible consequences.
The Police Can Arrest You
First, let’s talk about what might happen if the police catch you while you’re driving, and they find out that you have a suspended license. You should understand that if a judge elects to take away your driver’s license temporarily, they probably didn’t do it for no reason.
A judge might take away your license because you drove drunk. They may do it because you violated the speed limit egregiously. Maybe you sped well over the posted limit in a school zone, or you drove through someone’s yard while racing another driver.
Any of that might cause a judge to take your license. If you decide to drive anyway, and the police catch you, then they can at least consider arresting you.
They will probably do it. If it’s clear that you ingested alcohol before you drove, or you did some other kind of drug, then it’s a foregone conclusion the police will arrest you, especially if they see that you have a suspended license.
A Judge Might Revoke Your License Permanently
You’ll likely end up in front of a judge. They will look at the circumstances surrounding your arrest. They will probably give you a chance to explain your actions, but you might find it difficult to persuade the judge to let you go. That becomes even more the case if the judge sees that you have several previous traffic violations and similar blemishes on your record.
The judge might decide if they see a long list of previous traffic violations to revoke your license permanently. If they do that, then you know you did something truly awful while behind the wheel, or several things. Running over a child or something equally terrible will probably convince a judge to permanently revoke your license.
You Might Get Some Jail Time
You might also have to spend some time behind bars if you end up in front of a judge for driving with a suspended license. The judge might not permanently revoke your license, but they may sentence you to 30 days in the county jail to teach you a lesson.
If you end up in jail for a while, then hopefully, that will act as a wakeup call for you. A judge taking away your license should shake you up and get you to reconsider your behavior. If that does not do it, though, then some time in the county lockup might.
You May Drive Without a License Because You Need to Get to Work
Now, let us talk about some reasons why you might drive with a suspended license. There is never any good reason for doing that, but you can at least say to a judge that you had honorable intentions, even if misguided ones.
For example, maybe you will tell the judge that you had to get to work, or you would lose your job. You might say that you would get an eviction notice and end up on the street if you didn’t drive to work, and you had no other way to get there.
However, while that’s not the worst reason in the world for driving without a license, you can feel sure that the judge will still chastise you. They will likely say that if you thought ahead, you could find a family member or a friend to drive you to and from work. They might also say that if you couldn’t catch a ride with someone, then you might take a bus or some other form of public transportation.
These days, even if you don’t have very much public transportation where you live, you can usually summon an Uber via a phone app. There is no real excuse for driving with your license suspended, and a judge will certainly tell you that.
You May Drive with a Suspended License to Defy the Law
You might also belong to another category of individuals who decide to drive with a suspended license, though. Some people do this kind of thing for no other reason than because they feel like it.
They are not trying to get to work. They’re not picking their kids up from school. They’re just scofflaws. They don’t care about law and order, and this action reflects that viewpoint.
Everyone needs to follow the law, though. That’s part of what living in a society entails. If you don’t have even a moderately good reason for driving without your license, and it’s obvious that you don’t care about any of the judge’s edicts, then the court system will probably come down on you as harshly as possible.
Driving without a license won’t lead you in a positive direction, no matter why you decide to do it. Whether you end up in jail after this action or you are facing some other penalty, you need to take some time to reassess your life and to make better choices.
