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

[Anonymous]

Yes, please get a new license ASAP.

A French person I know was hauled off to jail immediately for driving with an expired license. She had her kids in the car with her. I don't know what happened to her kids.

You were not because you're a US citizen. But the point is, they do take license expiration seriously.

[Anonymous]

If you want to go to jail, don’t renew your license. If you don’t want to, take a day off from work and visit a DMV to renew your license ASAP (before going to court).

[Anonymous]

Heartily seconding to get your license fixed before court. I was a bit very good public defender years ago and since I wasn't very good I got a lot of jailable traffic cases, including driving without a license. The standard rule was first offense, if you got your license, they'd dismiss the charge. It was a different time and possibly a different place, so no promises but that was how it worked for us then

[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.

Oh, just stop. So if an application or form asked if you’d ever been arrested, you’d say yes if you’d once been pulled over for a taillight out and let go with a warning? I mean, after all, you were “stopped.”

Buffoon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any more info? I appreciate it.

What more do you want?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any more info? I appreciate it.

What more do you want?!

I was wondering if others had gone through something similar and had advice about what to expect.

[Anonymous]

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.

No, it is literally an arrest-worthy, criminal-record generating misdemeanor. Plus the cop could have towed and impounded the car. Assuming the cop let OP drive home, that alone saved them $500+.

[Anonymous]

Happened to my husband. They let him drive home, thankfully. He had to give a pal from college $2,000 to go to court for it. It is not a typical meaningless traffic ticket, it is a bonafide CRIMINAL citation.

[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.

Expired license is not traffic court, it is criminal court.

[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.

Who?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Happened to my husband. They let him drive home, thankfully. He had to give a pal from college $2,000 to go to court for it. It is not a typical meaningless traffic ticket, it is a bonafide CRIMINAL citation.

What happened at your husband's court date?

[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.

Expired license is not traffic court, it is criminal court.

Where I am, it's not a criminal court hearing -- you can first have an informal hearing with a Magistrate hearing to settle it before it proceeds to criminal court.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happened to my husband. They let him drive home, thankfully. He had to give a pal from college $2,000 to go to court for it. It is not a typical meaningless traffic ticket, it is a bonafide CRIMINAL citation.

What happened at your husband's court date?

His lawyer friend took care of it. It was dismissed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happened to my husband. They let him drive home, thankfully. He had to give a pal from college $2,000 to go to court for it. It is not a typical meaningless traffic ticket, it is a bonafide CRIMINAL citation.

What happened at your husband's court date?

His lawyer friend took care of it. It was dismissed.

The lawyer friend appeared on his behalf. My husband did not have to go to court. He renewed his license two days after he was issued the ticket and gave it to his friend to handle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any more info? I appreciate it.

What more do you want?!

I was wondering if others had gone through something similar and had advice about what to expect.

I hope you enjoy prison