Lost my licence today...for something 8 years ago in FL!

[ThirdWatcher]

While we're told that driving on a public roadway is a privilege, I think of a driver's license as a "shall issue" permit (similar to a CWP in some states). Absent any legally disqualifying reason, the state has to issue you a driver's license.

[jklaughrey]

Originally posted by Tracker
Otherwise, yes. It does make for a good excuse to stop a vehicle and take a look inside. Same for the seatbelt laws, light laws, muffler laws ad nauseum.[/QUOTE]

My dept. uses those same excuses, must be what all the cool kids in blue do LOL. We take it a step further though and include Income profiling vs racial. If you drive a shitty car your chances of getting pulled over are higher.

Now let me explain we have a really high incident of uninsured/non licensed motorists per capita in our area. There are certain "fringe" groups that believe they can show us a piece of paper stating they have the right to travel and operate a vehicle without a license or insurance due to we as a government can't force them to comply.

We usually ended up with quite few citations, not to mention arrests on these guys, even get a few weapons charges as well. NFA items and such or explosives.

Yes, I live in the Pacific Northwest, and NO I don't fear the black helicopters.

Cheers!

[ZDL]

*******

[30 cal slut]

Personal responsibility considerations aside ... all municipalities and states are experiencing budget pressures.

So they're scouring EXTRA hard to raise revenue by any means possible.

[LMarshall73]

I found out the hard way that the State of Florida doesn't notify you of your license being suspended until after you are ticketed for driving on a suspended license. Case in point - I was driving a friend's car in 92 or 93 and got pulled over because one headlight was out (the car's, not hers ). She said she'd take care of it (just had to repair it, take the ticket to the issuing agency, they'd verify, and the ticket would go away) but she never did. About 6 months later I got stopped for my tag light being out and was informed that my license was suspended.

The fun really began after that. I got everything paid and squared away, new license, etc, but during the course of the next year I got stopped by the same agency no fewer than 5 times, each time being told that my license was suspended and having it confiscated (I'd go to the clerk's office and they would have no record of it being suspended, I'd get paperwork saying so, get a new license, go to court, give the paperwork to the judge, and have the case dismissed). One time they actually stopped me THE SAME DAY that the judge had dismissed one of the cases. The final time I was pulled by this particular agency, the officer actually took the plate off of my truck (which really torqued my dad who was an LEO with a different agency).

A few days later I was riding with a friend and saw my plate on the back of an unmarked car in a parking lot. I snuck a couple of quick pictures with a disposable camera, had them developed and headed to the PD (with a copy of my registration) to demand to have my plate returned. When they refused, I showed a supervisor the picture and the registration (a white Crown Vic looks nothing like a black S-10 ) and told them that if I didn't have my tag in 30 minutes, copies of the picture and registration would find their way into the hands of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. A few phone calls were made, and 25 minutes later I walked out with my tag in hand. I've been stopped by the same agency 3 times since (twice for my vehicle matching a BOLO, and once for driving home from work at 4am after St. Paddy's day). Every time the officer has run my license they return to my door with significantly less color in their face and an, "I apologize for the inconvenience, Mr. Marshall. Have a nice day/evening."

[John_Wayne777]

It sounds like crap to me based off the info given. I find this to make about as much sense as when a license is suspended because of failure to make child support payments, or similar reasons. A paid ticket from 3 years ago shouldn't have anything to do with today.

That's true...but in the age of computers it's easier to be hammered than ever.

True story:

So the lady who cuts my hair knows that I know a little bit about government procedure and she asks me how to deal with an out of state ticket. I ask why. She says that she was mistakenly given a ticket by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. Then she hands me a print-out of the camera used to catch those who don't pay the toll.

The print-out is of a 2 door Cadillac sportscar with the plates "IRISHRD". The people at the NJTPA decided that it was a Virginia plate with those letters and so they sent her a ticket.

Small problem...she drives a Dodge SUV, and she has never been north of the Mason Dixon line in her life...ever.

The letter was filled about nasty threats of what the NJTPA was going to do to her driving record and to her if she didn't pay. I probably would not have believed all of this had she not had it all put right in front of me. I told her to go to the Virginia DMV and ask them for help in proving that they have the wrong identification.

The NJTPA did not agree with the Virginia DMV, at least not at first. Last I knew someone fairly high up in the Virginia DMV was supposed to get in communication with somebody fairly high up in the NJTPA and tell them to knock it the hell off ASAP.

So thanks to the wonders of computers and some idiot at the NJTPA a woman who has never been near New Jersey was fined for a violation that was clearly bogus to anyone who would have been dilligent enough to look at the registration and realize that A. her vehicle was not the same color as the one in the picture according to DMV records and that B. her vehicle was not the same type or brand as the one in the picture according to DMV records.

...and not only that, the NJTPA personnel remain stubborn in their incorrect judgment despite official communication from the Virginia DMV telling them they've got the wrong person.

If the NJTPA does something drastically stupid like suspend her license, she could end up in a world of problem all because some dumbass in New Jersey can't tell the difference between a Cadillac and a Dodge. With the networking of government databases and records and an idiot or two behind the keyboard, this kind of mayhem can be visited upon anyone.

She was originally going to ignore the ticket because obviously they made a mistake. I told her that with one keystroke from a finger with unreasonably long fake nails that her license could be suspended and her life turned upside down if she ignored this. At least now she's got documentary evidence with the Virginia DMV that the NJTPA is a bunch of idiots.

Now mistakes happen...but my beef is with the guilty until proven innocent function of many government agencies these days. It's really convenient for them...but exceptionally bad for you if you end up caught in the wheels of the machine.

[boltcatch]

I have no complaint with the patrol officers out working traffic and doing their jobs. None of this has much of anything to do with them, it's some pencil pushing asshat in a government office building somewhere.

This sort of stuff is only going to continue to get worse. I don't have too much sympathy with speeding, but it seems more and more agencies and state governments are doing the whole "oh yeah, about that ticket 10 years ago" nonsense.

Toll agency around here is really bad about that... there are still a lot of roads where unwary drivers and out-of-staters find themselves on a toll road with absolutely no signs to warn them, no way to turn around, and no booths other than toll tag/pay by mail. They go through... and then never get anything in the mail.

Until a year later, when their $0.25 toll has a $200 "administrative fee" tacked onto it.

As to being denied the "right" to drive. You have no right to drive; you have a right to travel. Can't play by the rules use your feet to exercise your right to travel.

There is no such right to travel, hasn't been in most places for quite a while. Start walking and see how far you get before your ass gets thrown in jail. Not saying it's right, just saying what is.