Driving without a license is considered a crime, so is driving with a suspended or a revoked license. However, some people think it’s still okay to drive their vehicle as long as they are careful enough not to get into any kind of road trouble. What they don’t realize is that, if they’re caught, they could end up in a bigger legal mess.

Here are two careless driving mistakes that many people commit and the consequences if caught.

Driving a Vehicle Without a Valid Driver’s License

It’s very easy to choose to drive yourself somewhere even if you don’t have a valid license. You know you’re a careful driver, anyway, so you’re pretty sure you won’t get into any trouble. However, if the police caught you driving with an expired or an invalid driver’s license, you could end up in a country house of correction.

For first-time offenders, they could end up spending time at the country house of correction for as much as ten days. In addition to this, he may also end up paying a fine of one thousand dollars. However, if you’re a repeat offender, then your time at the country house of correction could increase to up to a year.

Driving a Vehicle with a Suspended or Revoked License

There are a lot of reasons why a court can decide to suspend or revoke your license. Some of these reasons include but are not limited to:

1. Driving while under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs.
2. Possession of alcohol and illegal drugs.
3. Possession of illegal firearms.
4. Accumulating a certain number of demerit points against your driver’s license.
5. Causing road accidents.
6. Not appearing for court hearings (examples of which include child support hearing, traffic ticket hearing, traffic violation hearing, etc.).
7. Failure to pay your car insurance company. 8. Negligent and careless driving, including street racing.

If you’re caught driving with a suspended or revoked license, you could also end up in the county house of correction. Ten days and a fine of a thousand dollars if this is your first offense; a year and a fine of ten thousand dollars if this is your second offense; and two and a half years and a fine of ten thousand dollars if this is your third offense.

However, if the reason why your license was suspended or revoked is due to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, then in addition to the penalties mentioned earlier, you also have to stay in jail for a mandatory 60-day period. Your license suspension will also be extended, and you won’t be able to apply for a hardship license.

What Happens Next?

Let’s say that you’re caught, what should you do next?

You need to get a criminal defense lawyer, of course, to defend yourself in court. If this is your first offense, then you might get lucky and get away with minor penalties. If not, then you will need a good lawyer to at least minimize the penalties your careless actions could have incurred.

So, are you still thinking of driving that vehicle, knowing that you don’t have a valid license or that your license has been revoked or suspended?

Jennifer Daley is a freelance content provider who writes for several law-related blogs such as the blog of MA Attorney Elliot Savitz. Through this article, she hopes to help people avoid legal and road problems.

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