In New York, most people don't realize that driving with a suspended license can be a crime. In fact, under the New York vehicle and traffic law, section 511, if your license is suspended, depending on the number of suspensions you have, you could be charged with a Felony. Many people don't even know that their Driver's License is or could be suspended. Very often people tell our Criminal Lawyers, after they have been arrested, that they didn't know their license was suspended. Unfortunately, any New York Driver's Suspension Lawyer will tell you that ignorance of the law is not a valid criminal defense. One of the most common ways that this happens is when the driver receives a traffic ticket for a Moving Violation. After receiving the traffic ticket, the driver either (1) fails to respond to the traffic ticket (2) responds but fails to go to court on the return date or (3) goes to Court and is found guilty and fails to pay the fine. If the driver doesn't show up to defend the ticket or doesn't pay the fine, his Driver's License will be suspended. There is safeguard to this. DMV mails a letter to the driver letting them know that their license is in jeopardy of suspension for failing to act on the traffic ticket. The problem arises when people move and don't change their address on their Driver's License to the new address or they don't notify the DMV of the change of address. As a result of the DMV having the prior address the suspension letter will be sent to the wrong address and the driver won't receive it, if the forward has expired. Thus, the Driver's License will fall into a suspension. Any Traffic Attorney will tell you that is your responsibility and is not a legitimate defense to the suspension.

At the conclusion of any of those events the Department of Motor Vehicles will suspend the Driver's License of the person who fails to meet the aforementioned obligation. Then what happens is the soon to be a defendant drives and gets pulled over for another moving violation and in the words of Emeril "bam" you are arrested and charged with a crime.

The District Attorney uses the number of suspensions to determine the level of the criminal charge. For example, if a driver receives four traffic tickets, fails to hire a Criminal Lawyer and fails to address the tickets, each ticket can be a suspension. So, one could wind up with four separate suspensions and until all the tickets are dealt with the Driver's License Suspension can't be lifted and thus, there is no restoration of driving privileges. Further 4 suspension will result in you being charged with a misdemeanor that could result in incarceration. Moreover, if you accumulate 10 suspensions, you can be charged with a felony. The second most common way people suffer a Driving Suspension is by a driver acquiring 11 points on his license within an 18-month period as a result of Moving Violations. The DMV has a right to suspend your driving privileges so, it's important to hire a New York Traffic Lawyer to fight the tickets before you get to the 11 points.

Either fact pattern that has caused you to have your Driver's License suspended should alert you to your need to hire an experienced New York Driver's License Suspension Lawyer who can help you restore your license. At Stephen Bilkis and Associates we have Driver's License Restoration Attorneys that are standing by to help you. Our firm offers you a free consultation with a Lawyer from our office. We have locations in New York City and on Long Island so call us at 1-800-NY-NY-LAW.