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dsdeena · Jan 21, 2010, 12:55 AM

Hi,

I am not sure, if this is the right place to ask this, but I thought I would:

I completely forgot that my license had expired a while back and unfortunately, I was pulled over by a cop. He arrested me took me and the car to a police station and gave me a ticket saying I will have to appear at the court. (He was kind enough to also drive me to my home in his car). Next day I got my license renewed, paid $500 in charges (for towing) and got my car back from the police station.

Now I have a court hearing in about a week, and I am not sure what to expect and what would happen? I live in the state of Illinois.

Will it just be another fine or more than that? I also read that I could call the court and tell them that the matter has been resolved (renewed my license) and they would just hand me some fine and cancel the court appearance. Is it true?

Please let me know guys..

Thanks in advance.

KISS · Jan 21, 2010, 06:08 AM

It's going to depend on the state. See What happens if I get caught driving without a license? - DMV Answers

In any event you do have to prove that the situation is resolved. I didn't have an insurance card, but was insured, so I had to prove to the court that I had insurance.

This isn't quite the same. We used to get "time to renew" notifications for registrations and licenses by mail, now only email notifications are done because of cost-cutting.

dsdeena · Jan 21, 2010, 02:17 PM

Thanks for the link. For Illinois it says Fine and Additional Suspension. Do you think I should get lawyer to represent me for this kind of case?

It says fine up to $2500 for Illinois, any personal experiences on how much the fine could be? I haven't had any moving violations in the last 12months.

Please advise..

KISS · Jan 21, 2010, 03:23 PM

Low long did your license lapse? It's your first offense and you have no moving violations in 12 months. They will have your entire record. All of that is in your favor.

Did it lapse for 3 mo or 3 years?

dsdeena · Jan 21, 2010, 03:29 PM

It had lapsed for about 12 months and a few days (honestly, I had absolutely no idea about it) until I was stopped. I always used my state-id for identification and that was valid so I never happened to look at the date!

KISS · Jan 21, 2010, 03:31 PM

You probably won't have any problems with what you just said. I'd try to make a point at looking at all your cards etc, say on your birthday or once a year at least.

Fr_Chuck · Jan 21, 2010, 06:52 PM

You should get it renewed, show up to court and show them.

Normally just a fine

dsdeena · Jan 29, 2010, 09:37 PM

Got a $225 fine and 3 months supervision. If no other moving violation in the next 3 months, this will be off the records.

KISS · Jan 30, 2010, 12:06 PM

Thanks for th update. Guess you won't let it expire again?