Driving with a Suspended License
It is a crime to operate a motor vehicle while your license is suspended or revoked. A license may be suspended or revoked for many reasons, such as unpaid fines, non-payment of child support, missed court appearances, or prior traffic offenses. A person cannot be guilty of operating a vehicle with a suspended license if they did not receive notice of their license being suspended. I have seen cases where a driver wasn’t even aware their license was suspended until the police pulled them over. However, if there is proof that the Registry of Motor Vehicles sent a suspension notice to the driver’s most recent address on file, then the driver’s ignorance of the suspension will probably not get them off the hook.
The comments that follow all discuss Massachusetts law, as it is applied in Massachusetts courts. These comments do not apply to criminal cases in federal courts, or to cases in any state other than Massachusetts. None of these general comments are legal advice for a specific situation. Any time you are charged with a crime, or have questions as to what the law says, the best course of action is to talk to a lawyer about your particular circumstances.
What do they have to prove in order to convict you of driving with a suspended license?
Three things: 1) you operated a vehicle; 2) at the time you operated, your license was suspended or revoked; and 3) you had received notice either that your license was suspended or revoked, or that the license was about to be suspended or revoked.
What if you didn’t know your license was suspended?
It is important to note the difference between not knowing something, and not having notice of it. If all a defendant had to do was to claim they never saw a notice of license suspension, nobody would get convicted of operating on a suspended license. The issue is whether the defendant received notice of their license being suspended or revoked. If the Registry of Motor Vehicles offers admissible evidence that they sent a notice of suspension or revocation to the defendant’s most recent address on file, the defendant’s claim to have never received the notice might not be a helpful defense.
Will they drop the case if you get your license reinstated?
Depending on the circumstances, the prosecutor may be willing to dismiss the case upon proof that you have restored your driver’s license to active status. It never hurts to ask them. However, the law does not require the prosecutor to make such a deal.
What if your license got suspended for unpaid fines, and you can’t afford to pay them?
A driver’s license can be suspended for not paying fines or fees owed to the Registry of Motor Vehicles, not paying child support, or other financial reasons. Unfortunately, inability to pay is not going to get you your license back. One alternative may be to consult a lawyer who has experience with the Registry, or experience with the family court, to see if is it possible to reduce the amount of the debt. Some people lose their driver’s licenses for years at a time when they can’t get their finances straightened out.
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