Am I going to go to prison? Expired driver's license...

[Anonymous]

Just renew your license. If they wanted to haul you away--they would have done it at the scene.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just renew your license. If they wanted to haul you away--they would have done it at the scene.

Yes, clearly you're white, OP, because the cop didn't even confiscate your license. You won't go to jail.

[Anonymous]

OP, please ignore the posts that are teasing you. You will be okay.

Once, years ago, my DH was driving out of state, accidentally made a lane change where he shouldn't have done so, and got a ticket for reckless driving. In the state where this occurred, you can go to jail for reckless driving. I was a complete basket case. Like you, he had to go to court. Ultimately the charges were reduced; he paid a fine. But I understand the panic. I am sure you are a law-abiding person, as we are, and it was scary to have even the slightest brush with the law.

DH hired a lawyer who handled traffic cases. (The lawyer actually reached out to him.) Maybe it was overkill to hire an attorney, but I found it reassuring to have someone who knew the ropes be there.

You will be okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is pure speculation on my end but if the peace officer told you that, then he likely was making a sarcastic joke.

Which I would not think is very funny personally. 🫤

But to answer your question - no you won’t be going to jail for performing an illegal U-turn on an expired driver’s license.

Your “pure speculation” is devoid of fact. The police officer could have absolutely arrested OP for driving on an expired license. Why would you think that’s a joke? It’s actually a serious offense.

Only if you’re black. If you’re white, it’s laughable.

[Anonymous]

No. If you're in VA I think traffic court is basically part of criminal court. Like for example if I look myself up in the VA court system, I can see when I was pulled over for running a stop sign in college and it lists the officer who wrote my ticket as "arresting officer." I was not arrested. I went to court and paid $175.

[Anonymous]

NO. Good grief, people don't even go to jail for felonies. No one is going to waste a single cent of taxpayer money on a driver's license. BTDT. Really, OP, calm down. It's Ok. It's really, really, really going to be OK. Worst case scenario you'll pay a fine--probably a reduced fine. There's a chance there won't even be that. Go renew your license ASAP (like tomorrow if you can.) Then relax and go about your life. And don't make anymore illegal left turns. In my city they've recently made it illegal to pull people over for stupid stuff like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is pure speculation on my end but if the peace officer told you that, then he likely was making a sarcastic joke.

Which I would not think is very funny personally. 🫤

But to answer your question - no you won’t be going to jail for performing an illegal U-turn on an expired driver’s license.

Your “pure speculation” is devoid of fact. The police officer could have absolutely arrested OP for driving on an expired license. Why would you think that’s a joke? It’s actually a serious offense.

Meh. Millions in the U.S. look at our laws as a joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is pure speculation on my end but if the peace officer told you that, then he likely was making a sarcastic joke.

Which I would not think is very funny personally. 🫤

But to answer your question - no you won’t be going to jail for performing an illegal U-turn on an expired driver’s license.

Your “pure speculation” is devoid of fact. The police officer could have absolutely arrested OP for driving on an expired license. Why would you think that’s a joke? It’s actually a serious offense.

Only if you’re black. If you’re white, it’s laughable.

+1 There’s a Congressman who’s been pulled over for speeding three times in the last few months with a revoked license and nothing has happened to him.

[Anonymous]

It's a simple renewal. No big deal. And that officer was being a d*ck.

[Anonymous]

1. You reinstate your license before going to court or paying a fine.
2. In most jurisdictions it is a fine, no jail, and if you pay the fine within the time limit you don't have to go to court.
3. Happens to people all the time. I would have to pull mine out to know when it is up for renewal, I never remember the validity time period and have a couple of times forgotten about renewing. Once it went over a year and I had to retake the written and road test.
4. If you go to court, you will be one of the few people there for this. Everyone else is gonna be no insurance, DUS/DUR/DUI, maybe some road violations, maybe some not current registration.
5. Those kinds of courts can be highly entertaining. (I had a DUS once, it was during a highly stressful life situation, tail lights had gone out one night when I was getting sore throat lozenges for my kid who was sick, fixed the next day but forgot to go in and show that they had been fixed. Forgot about the fine, the whole thing, because of other really difficult stuff happening. Also had a broke wrist and surgery, missed the letter warning of pending suspension, later got pulled over driving. Had my license reinstated by the time I went to court, I saw other people in same situation get theirs reduced to no license (a lesser offense) and judge seemed sympathetic that it was a taillight (bad fuse was all) that snowballed, still got called DUS and paid a much bigger fine. And then it was over.

Had I not appeared, I could have been jailed for failure to appear.

Also, prison is not jail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is pure speculation on my end but if the peace officer told you that, then he likely was making a sarcastic joke.

Which I would not think is very funny personally. 🫤

But to answer your question - no you won’t be going to jail for performing an illegal U-turn on an expired driver’s license.

Your “pure speculation” is devoid of fact. The police officer could have absolutely arrested OP for driving on an expired license. Why would you think that’s a joke? It’s actually a serious offense.

Only if you’re black. If you’re white, it’s laughable.

+1 There’s a Congressman who’s been pulled over for speeding three times in the last few months with a revoked license and nothing has happened to him.

Aren't they immune when Congress is in session?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. If you're in VA I think traffic court is basically part of criminal court. Like for example if I look myself up in the VA court system, I can see when I was pulled over for running a stop sign in college and it lists the officer who wrote my ticket as "arresting officer." I was not arrested. I went to court and paid $175.

Arrest literally means stop. You were stopped (arrested.) The arresting officer was the stopping officer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is pure speculation on my end but if the peace officer told you that, then he likely was making a sarcastic joke.

Which I would not think is very funny personally. 🫤

But to answer your question - no you won’t be going to jail for performing an illegal U-turn on an expired driver’s license.

Your “pure speculation” is devoid of fact. The police officer could have absolutely arrested OP for driving on an expired license. Why would you think that’s a joke? It’s actually a serious offense.

Only if you’re black. If you’re white, it’s laughable.

+1 There’s a Congressman who’s been pulled over for speeding three times in the last few months with a revoked license and nothing has happened to him.

Aren't they immune when Congress is in session?

From traffic laws in their home state? No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. If you're in VA I think traffic court is basically part of criminal court. Like for example if I look myself up in the VA court system, I can see when I was pulled over for running a stop sign in college and it lists the officer who wrote my ticket as "arresting officer." I was not arrested. I went to court and paid $175.

Arrest literally means stop. You were stopped (arrested.) The arresting officer was the stopping officer.

Er. No.

- person who has to report arrests and not traffic tickets

[Anonymous]

Any more info? I appreciate it.