[Petenwell]

We live in Illinois and my son got a speeding ticket in Wisconsin, and mailed his fine into the court.

This occurred a month ago.

Today in the mail he got a letter stating that his driving privileges were suspended for 14 days. He must drive for his job. I called the Wisconsin dept of motor vehicles and asked if this meant that he could not legally drive in Illinois and they said they didn't know.

Has anyone experienced a similar situation, or have any input?

Thanks so much.

[Fr_Chuck]

Of course they are suspended everywhere, he has one drivers license when it is suspended in any state it is suspended.

It means till he clears up the suspension or if he drives it will be illegally.

But the real question is for just a speeding ticket how or why did they suspend his license?

Was the speed real excessive? very very fast ? In a school zone ? Work zone?
For just a speeding ticket they would not suspend a license. There has to be more to this

[Petenwell]

Thank you for your quick response. He was speeding 23 miles over the limit on the interstate. Foolish choice on his part.

He was afraid to tell his father and I (for obvious reasons) and chose instead to pay his fine via mail. The check wasn't received and processed until 5/15. He mailed it 1 week prior to his court date of May 3rd.

I am assuming that the 2 week suspension was for either not showing up to court or the amount over the limit he chose to drive.

Again, thank you. The arena of court/traffic tickets is uncharted waters for us. We are unsure of what to do next.

[Fr_Chuck]

It would be "most likely" for not appearing and not paying on time, and my guess is that it would be suspended until cleared up but the payment was received.

Can he just take a vacation or time off for those two weeks?

[Petenwell]

Unfortunately, he doesn't have any vacation time. He will probably loose this job that he loves, and has had for the past 3 years, all due to one bad decision.

He is most upset with himself, and I certainly would be surprised if he ever neglected to follow the speed limits in the future.

Again, thank you for the information.

[odinn7]

I know this is the law section and I have nothing legal to add here but I wanted to say this... I went through a problem with my license a long time ago. I needed to drive for my job as well at the time. I went to the owner of the company and talked to him face to face and explained my situation. He wasn't happy with it but he understood. I was able to keep my job and returned back to work when I got my license back. Maybe your son could try this approach. It couldn't hurt.

[Petenwell]

I know this is the law section and I have nothing legal to add here but I wanted to say this...I went through a problem with my license a long time ago. I needed to drive for my job as well at the time. I went to the owner of the company and talked to him face to face and explained my situation. He wasn't happy with it but he understood. I was able to keep my job and returned back to work when I got my license back. Maybe your son could try this approach. It couldn't hurt.

Thank you, he will have to try that tomorrow. His problem (and it's a big one) is that if he looses his job, because he can't drive due to a suspension for 2 weeks, he will then be forced to withdraw from college. His job is helping to fund his education. He has been lucky to have had this job for 3 years, which is in his field of study. We live in a city that has the highest unemployment rate in the state of Illinois, so job are few and far between.

Unfortunately, due to our huge medical bills (I have cancer) we are unable to pay too much for his school. And, next year is his senior year. This one poor decision to not follow the speed limit law may have impacted him for years to come.

[odinn7]

I wish you and him the best of luck.