Suspended driver's license question (Post: insurance, lawyer, DMV) - Houston - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

Artfull32 · 04-24-2014, 03:00 PM

So in 2012, I was given a warning for speeding, but the cop found that my wife and I didn't have current insurance on her car, which was being paid by her parents. They have been helping us out with the insurance payments but weren't able to pay that month and didn't tell us. I received a ticket for it, which I paid, but was unaware of additional surcharges that would occur for 3 more years. Sad to say, I didn't pay them because I was unaware of them (didn't receive anything in the mail due to incomplete address in the system).

Fast forward to the present: I was stopped this year for speeding and apparently I was also driving with a suspended license because of the missed surcharge payments (again, I didn't know any of this). So I went to court, got a differed disposition, and paid all the fines. But recently I received a notice from the DMV that my license will be suspended again in a month because I was driving with a suspended license. Apparently you can get punished twice for the same thing. I realize that I should have known some of these things, or at least looked further into it when I first received the ticket, so that was my fault.

My question: Is my best option to try and obtain a restricted occupational license? Is it pointless for me to try and contest this? Any helpful suggestions?

jfre81 · 04-24-2014, 04:32 PM

I've never looked into a restricted license of any sort, because my license never got suspsended because of the surcharges. But I did have to pay those.

It's one of the worst policy decisions this state has ever made, it was put into place to fund a Rick Perry pet project that nobody wanted and doesn't exist anymore and it leads to more uninsured AND unlicensed drivers. It's an extrajudicial tax that has no place in a state that thinks it's different from the rest of the country because it thinks it supports "smaller government."

These truths will be heard once again if Perry ever tries to become president again. His transition back to private life could not come soon enough.

HookTheBrotherUp · 04-25-2014, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfre81

I've never looked into a restricted license of any sort, because my license never got suspsended because of the surcharges. But I did have to pay those.

It's one of the worst policy decisions this state has ever made, it was put into place to fund a Rick Perry pet project that nobody wanted and doesn't exist anymore and it leads to more uninsured AND unlicensed drivers. It's an extrajudicial tax that has no place in a state that thinks it's different from the rest of the country because it thinks it supports "smaller government."

These truths will be heard once again if Perry ever tries to become president again. His transition back to private life could not come soon enough.

You are right, too many people have had those surcharges assessed, but the same amount of people have not paid them. It is not ironic that the same people who owe the billion plus surcharges, and won't pay, are the ones who the law was intended to punish.

The law had good intentions, it was to be a deterrent against those who drive without insurance, run stop signs, hit and run accidents, DWI, etc. The problem is many of those who commit those offenses are not likely to be ones to follow the law, and pay up. In your case, jfre81, it worked.

Every weekend you will see an article in the Chron about a drunk driver, and if you read the comments, you will always see someone ask why we have so much of it, and why is nothing being done about it. So you have to ask yourself, how DO we address it? How do we punish those who commit these offenses? The answer was to make it costly, and to eventually suspend one's driver license. Driving, as we all know, is a privilege, not a right. The state has every right to implement this program as a deterrent, at least something was done.

If you don't create that type of a deterrent, what else can you do? So I agree the program is a failure as far as eliminating bad driving, but the alternative is to do nothing and say you can get high, drunk, and kill people, and we won't do anything. The only other alternative is to put those people in jail, but then one out of every ten people who are assessed the surcharges, and don't pay, would be in jail.

Read the Chron online over the weekend, or on Monday, you will see at least a couple of deaths related to DWI. Just yesterday some 23 year old punk who had four children was high, rolled his car, and one of his four children was killed as a result. RIP

jfre81 · 04-25-2014, 07:07 AM

I hate to smack the ol' dead horse over its poor rotted head again but we have created an infrastructure that requires people to drive, even in many parts of the major cities. No doubt, people who need to pay fines because they broke a law are going to have to continue to drive to make the money to pay those fines.

Artfull32 · 04-25-2014, 07:14 AM

You all make some interesting points. I'm definitely upset about this situation, especially considering it was all unintentional on my part. I have trouble understanding how not having insurance can be punished as a worse offense than speeding. But all that aside, I was still hoping for an answer to my question if you all or anyone else can help!

DSL_PWR · 04-25-2014, 07:47 AM

First off you need to take responsibility for your actions. It's not someone else's responsibility to provide you with insurance.

You broke the law and now you have to deal with it. Pay up and get insurance and keep it, then you don't have to deal with this.

Now, why don't you contact a lawyer? They can help you. You'll get nothing but opinions here including mine.

HookTheBrotherUp · 04-25-2014, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artfull32

You all make some interesting points. I'm definitely upset about this situation, especially considering it was all unintentional on my part. I have trouble understanding how not having insurance can be punished as a worse offense than speeding. But all that aside, I was still hoping for an answer to my question if you all or anyone else can help!

I would go to the DMV and ask if you can speak to someone, you cannot contest it, it is what it is, but you can state your facts as you did here on CD, and ask if they can provide any relief, whatever form that is. As the old saying goes, it never hurts to ask. If you don't do that, then I'd suggest hiring an attorney, something you should have done from the start. Attorney's specialize in these types of things have a standard rate, many times less than $100, not more than $200. If this was nipped in the bud by an attorney, it may have never gotten this far. Good luck, let us know what happens.

Neo45 · 04-25-2014, 10:14 AM

What's the website to check warrants, a suspended license, etc? I'm somewhat in the same boat except I hired a lawyer for court and everything was dismissed but still....

Artfull32 · 04-26-2014, 08:54 AM

So enlightening, DSL_PWR! Even though I already said that I had fault in the situation, you managed to criticize me even more and state the obvious! I didn't ask for your opinion on the situation, I asked for help. You honestly shouldn't be on this forum if your only goal is to lift your ego by bringing others down. As for the lawyer, I am already looking into it. I just wanted to see if there were some alternate actions I could take before going that route.

Thank you, HookTheBrotherUp! I'll look into trying that!

Your help is much appreciated!

jfre81 · 04-26-2014, 10:28 AM

My Post of the Year nomination is...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artfull32

So enlightening, DSL_PWR! Even though I already said that I had fault in the situation, you managed to criticize me even more and state the obvious! I didn't ask for your opinion on the situation, I asked for help. You honestly shouldn't be on this forum if your only goal is to lift your ego by bringing others down.