Driving While Suspended in Florida Is Major Trouble
December 1, 2008 by christy
Driving while suspended in Florida is not a bright thing to do, not to mention the fact the driver could be charged with a felony. It is not worth getting a criminal record over.
Knowing the law when it comes to driving while suspended in the state of Florida will keep many a motorist out of hot water. It is not worth the fines or the record that may follow a driver throughout their life. Losing a vehicle to the impound lot, if stopped, isn’t a whole lot of fun either.
Driving while suspended is a moving violation and the first violation will net the offender a second-degree misdemeanor. A second offense results in a first-degree felony and if the driver gets nabbed a third time, it is written up as a third degree felony.
While it may not be obvious on the face of things, it is crucial to hire a qualified attorney such as Tony Francis of the Francis Law Firm in Orlando, to assist in handling the inevitable court case that usually arises out of situations like this.
Pleading innocence won’t work if there is a prior record of similar offenses. A suspension for failure to pay a traffic fine or for a financial responsibility violation does not count. These may be the only two exceptions according to the law, but consulting with a law firm like the Francis Law Firm will lay out other options that may be available.
Habitual offenders who continue to drive while suspended are guilty of a third degree felony. This also applies to anyone who drives while suspended and causes the death of another.
If a person is driving a commercial vehicle while suspended, the first offense is a first degree felony and any other offense after that is a third degree felony.
Getting stopped by the police may result in having the vehicle being impounded immediately. The impound will be ordered if the person driving the vehicle is driving while suspended, has been suspended since a prior conviction for a suspended license, if the person is a habitual offender (the exception may be a one-time suspension for not maintaining security) and if the driver of the vehicle is the registered owner or co-owner.
Of course getting a vehicle out of impound isn’t the least expensive thing a driver has to do when it comes to owning up for driving while suspended. The fines increase incrementally according to the number of times a driver is convicted. At this point, consulting a lawyer like Tony Francis at the Francis Law Firm in Orlando, Florida, would be the best investment of time and money to deal with offenses of this nature.
To learn more, visit http://www.francislawgroup.com.
Adviatech Corp., PR for FrancisLawGroup.com
9280 Bay Plaza Blvd Suite 706
Tampa, FL 33619
1.813.600.3017
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