Has your driver’s license been suspended? If so, then you absolutely cannot drive until your driving privilege has been reinstated. While not being able to drive may be a huge inconvenience, trust me when I say that it’s not worth the risk of getting caught. If you’re caught driving with a suspended license in Florida, then depending on the circumstances, you could be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony and face jail time, significant fines, and an extension of your driver’s license suspension period or possibly even a revocation of your license.
Getting your suspended driver’s license reinstated is a multi-step process. The first step is to determine why your license was suspended. The following are the most likely reasons why your driver’s license was suspended: you failed to appear in court (this is sometimes referred to as a D-6 suspension); you accumulated too many points on your license within a designated period of time; or you got a DUI. In any of these scenarios, it’s in your best interests to contact a Miami traffic ticket attorney or a Fort Lauderdale traffic ticket attorney since it’s very difficult to correct a suspended driver’s license problem on your own. Here at the South Florida law firm of Galanter Law, we can run your driver’s license at our office to figure out why your license was suspended and then chart out a legal plan of action to help rectify the situation and get you driving again.
If your driving privilege was suspended because you did not show up for a single court date, you can resolve this type of suspension relatively easily. To get your license reinstated in this situation, contact the traffic court in the county where the traffic summons was issued, satisfy the traffic summons, and then present proof of the satisfaction and pay a D-6 suspension reinstatement fee of $60 to any Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles office. Once you pay the fee and complete any other court requirements placed on you, your license will be reinstated.
If you received a DUI in Florida, your license will automatically be suspended. In order to get your license reinstated, you must complete all of the court imposed requirements of your plea or conviction. In some cases, you may be eligible for a hardship license/work permit during your suspension period, which allows you to drive to and from your place of employment. At Galanter Law, our Miami ticket lawyers and Fort Lauderdale ticket lawyers can help you determine whether you qualify for a work permit and can guide you through the application process.
Once you have accumulated a certain number of points on your license within a set time period, your license will be suspended. This type of driver’s license suspension is the most complicated type of suspension to resolve because your lawyer must go back and try to undo what you have already done. Our attorneys will look for legal circumstances to revisit and then contest the underlying violations for which the points were initially assessed. In many cases, we have been able to successfully vacate a client’s underlying moving violations, thus removing the offending points from the client’s license and getting the client’s license reinstated. While this is a legal avenue you may want to pursue, keep in mind that this will typically be a very time intensive legal process, which will lead to expensive legal fees. As I have blogged about many times before here, here, and here, the most effective way to avoid points on your license is to not pay the ticket outright but rather hire a South Florida traffic ticket attorney who will try to get your case dismissed or obtain a withhold of adjudication so that no points will be assessed on your license.
No matter what the reason for your driver’s license suspension, our law firm can help you. Time is of the essence—so make sure to contact our office as soon as you learn that your license has been suspended. We know you’re anxious to start driving again, so the sooner you contact us, the sooner we can get you back behind the wheel.
Commentary by Fort Lauderdale Traffic Ticket Attorney Yale Galanter:
Yale Galanter, a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyer, has over 30 years of experience providing discreet and aggressive legal counseling to both public figures and clients looking for precise and excellent legal defense. Yale Galanter is known for his personal representation and attention to your criminal matter.
For more information on traffic violations or other traffic crime offenses such as:
- DUI Manslaughter
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- Leaving the Scene of an Accident, or Leaving the Scene of an Accident with Injury and/or Property Damage
- Reckless Driving
- Careless Driving
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