You just left the Dunkin Doughnuts drive thru window and are on your way to work when you forget to put your blinker on. You couldn’t because you had the coffee in one hand the munchkin in the other and you were steering with your thigh. Yes, we have all been there at one time or another. When the cop pulls you over and runs your license, you can’t believe that your license is suspended. Don’t panic, you are not alone. The first time many people learn that their Florida driver’s license is suspended is when a police officer hands them a driving while license suspended ticket. That is because driver’s licenses can be suspended in Florida without any warning or notification to the driver in many cases. Without looking into it a traffic ticket lawyer cannot tell you specifically why your license was suspended, but here are the most common reasons for driver’s license suspensions in Florida:

#1 Too Many Points

Most traffic violations in Florida have a point value associated with them. Not every state uses this type of system, so new residents to Florida are often unfamiliar with how this works. The idea is that if you receive a set number of points within a certain time period, then your license is suspended. If you get 12 points in any 12 month period, you get a 30 day suspension. 18 points in any 18 month period is a 3 month suspension. Finally, 24 points in a 36 month period is a one year suspension. It can work like this: If you don’t see a stop sign, speed through it, throw a gum wrapper out of your window, and get in a crash, then you can get 3 points for littering, 3 points for running the stop sign, and 6 points for speeding resulting in a crash. That adds up to 12 points and a 30 day driver’s license suspension. But you have options if this happens to you, call an experienced traffic ticket attorney.

#2 Financial Irresponsibility

Your Florida driver’s license can also be suspended for not paying certain debts. For example, if you do not pay court costs for a traffic ticket, your license can be automatically suspended. If you do not pay a civil or criminal judgment that has been entered against you, your driver’s license can be suspended. The big one is that if you do not pay child support, your driver’s license will be suspended. Another big one is the accident that has not been taken care of. You get into a car accident and you have no insurance. The person who sues you can not collect their damages. The State of Florida will stop your from driving (or at least from getting a license) until you pay the debt. If you have insurance it can still happen to you. If you have a $10,000 liability policy and you injure someone and their damages are $50,000, you still owe $40,000 and will not be able to drive until it is paid.

 #3 Not Paying Traffic Tickets

Most suspended licenses in Florida are a result of not paying a traffic ticket on time. After a traffic ticket is issued, you normally have 30 days to pay it or make other arrangements to take care of it. If you forget about the ticket, your license will be automatically suspended, This is a big a problem with red light camera tickets and Sun Pass tickets. Those tickets are supposed to be mailed to you, but if they get delivered to the wrong address, you might not receive notification of the ticket. That does not matter, you will get an automatic driver’s license suspension anyway. Under normal circumstances, if you do have your driver’s license suspended for failure to pay a traffic ticket, you can get out of the suspension by just paying the ticket. However, you should never let it get that far. That does not mean that you should pay Florida traffic tickets. Instead, you should call an experienced Florida traffic ticket lawyer. A Florida traffic ticket lawyer can help you with almost any type of traffic citation in Florida, including a driving while suspended ticket.

If you are not sure whether or not your Florida driver’s license is suspended, then you should look into it as soon as possible. The longer you go with a suspended license, the more likely it is that you will be stopped. In fact, police are now wanting to use cameras to scan license plates that will tell them if the person who registered the vehicle has a suspended driver’s license. So, make sure that you get any driving while suspended tickets taken care of with the help of a Florida traffic ticket lawyer unless you want to get more more tickets. And try not to drive with your thigh, the doughnut can wait 🙂