Driver's License Suspension

Florida Driver’s License Issues

Unfortunately, there are many things that can trigger a driver’s license suspension in Florida. This can include such things as:

medical related suspensions,
DUI suspensions,
drug convictions,
too many points,
failure to pay child support,
failure to pay tickets,
failure to pay court fines,
insurance related problems.

Many times, people may not know their driver’s license has been suspended.

Even worse, sometimes when you take steps to clear up prior failures to ay off your tickets in an effort to reinstate your driver’s license, you can actually trigger a five (5) year habitual traffic offender suspension of your driver’s license.

Whether you are trying to reinstate your driving privilege or you are faced with gong to court for driving when your driver’s license is suspended or revoked, you need an experienced lawyer to help you. At Epstein & Robbins we are specialists in driver’s license law. We are familiar with the people locally at the DMV and in Tallahassee at the DMV who oversee driver’s licenses. We can represent you in court and help navigate you through the steps to reinstate your driver’s license.

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Driving While License Suspended or Revoked (DWLS)

Florida Statute 322.34 prohibits driving with a suspended or revoked driver’s license. In Florida, if you drive knowing your driver’s license is suspended or revoked you can be charged with a crime and even sentenced to jail. Even if you did not know about the suspension, you can be given a civil traffic citation for driving while suspended.

Whether charged with a crime or simply given a ticket, a conviction can have consequences beyond the cost of a fine. Contact us at Epstein & Robbins. We have the knowledge and experience to help with the court process and to take the necessary steps to correct the problems that triggered the suspension or revocation in the first place.

Medical Suspensions

Under Florida Statute 322.126, anyone can report you to the DMV if they believe that there is a physical or mental disability affecting your ability to drive. If the DMV Medical Review Board finds that you are not fit to drive, your driver’s license can be taken. Often, these matters can be successfully addressed, but they must be properly handled by someone who understands the process. At Epstein & Robbins we have the knowledge and experience to confront this issue and to help our clients maintain their ability to drive.

Drug Suspensions

Florida Statute 322.055 requires a six (6) month driver’s license suspension if you are convicted of a drug offense. The court may also authorize a business purpose only permit if presented with the proper information. You need an experienced attorney to help you try to avoid the drug conviction or to make sure that the court has the necessary information to authorize the business purpose only license.

Failure to Pay Past Tickets

Many times, drivers try on their own to pay off old tickets to try to obtain their driver’s license. While this may be the right thing to do in some occasions, there are some times that by doing so, you unknowingly trigger a suspension. This is because by paying the ticket, you are pleading guilty and a conviction is placed on your driving record. This can result in points being added that cause a point suspension, or, depending on the traffic charge, may trigger a five (5) year habitual traffic offender suspension. Before you pay off old tickets, consult with a knowledgeable attorney.

Excessive Points

Too many points can cause your driver’s license to be suspended but they can cause other problems as well including obtaining and keeping your job. We at Epstein & Robbins can help you avoid points and also help you have points removed.

Insurance Issues

Insurance related suspensions occur when DMV thinks you have no insurance or you do not have the minimum insurance required. Often, drivers are taken by surprise by these suspensions. Also, often these suspensions are the result of errors either by the insurance company or the DMV. For example, if you have changed your insurance company, many times if the cancellation from the first company gets to Tallahassee after the information from the new company, a suspension may be imposed. Sometimes, your insurance company fails to update your information with DMV. Sometimes, if you move to Florida and fail to update your insurance to comply with Florida’s requirements, you can be deemed uninsured. When these situations arise, you need experienced legal help both to clear up the problem with DMV, but also to handle any charge of Driving While License Suspended or Revoked that you may be faced with.

Habitual Traffic Offender (HTO)

Under Florida Statute 322.264, if you have had too many convictions for traffic violations or have three (3) convictions for certain traffic offenses such as Driving While License Suspended or Revoked or DUI, DMV will revoke your driver’s license for five (5) years. This revocation will also require the purchase of a SR 22 insurance policy upon reinstatement, which is an added expense. Although you may be eligible for a business purposes only driver’s license (also known as a hardship license) after a year, at Epstein & Robbins we have helped many people reverse the convictions causing the revocation. If that happens, the revocation will be removed from your driving record along with the SR 22 insurance requirement.

DUI Revocations

If you have been convicted of DUI, the revocation to be imposed is set out in Florida Statute 322.28.

For a first offense, the length of suspension is a minimum of six (6) months or a maximum of a year.
If it is your second conviction within five (5) years of your last conviction, the minimum is five (5) years with the opportunity to obtain a business purpose driver’s license after a year.
For a third DUI within ten (10) years of your last DUI, the revocation is for ten (10) years with the ability to obtain a business purpose driver’s license after two (2) years.
Reinstatement of these suspensions will require the purchase of a prepaid FR 44 insurance policy which can cost thousands of dollars.
On a first DUI, you may be required to install an ignition interlock device on your vehicle.
On a second or more DUI the ignition interlock is mandatory.
If you have four (4) convictions for DUI, your driver’s license will be permanently revoked.

Your status in Florida will also affect your ability to keep and/or retain any out of state driver’s license. If your driver’s license has been permanently revoked based upon four (4) convictions, you may be able to obtain a restricted driver’s license. We have been successful in helping people who have had their driver’s licenses permanently revoked regain their ability to obtain a driver’s license.

Your experienced defense attorneys at Epstein & Robbins will not only defend you on the current charge, but in every case, we also look into your previous driving convictions. We may be able to move to withdraw prior guilty or no contest pleas that you entered. We also have been successful in having erroneous entries of alleged convictions removed thereby eliminating revocations.

Commercial Driver’s License Holders

Our firm does a lot of defense work for professional drivers with commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs).

Florida law treats regular driver’s license and commercial driver’s licenses differently. A CDL driver is held to a much harsher standard. For example, in the case of an administrative suspension related to a DUI, when a regular driver loses a license for six months, a commercial driver loses their CDL for at least a year. On a second DUI related suspension, you will permanently lose your CDL. Regular drivers can get a temporary permit to drive for work purposes. A commercial driver cannot get a business permit use their CDL.

The same restrictions apply to you whether you were driving your personal vehicle or a commercial vehicle at the time of the offense.

Paying a ticket is not always the right step to take. Before you do anything, get legal advice

Just paying a ticket is viewed as a plea of guilty and a conviction will automatically be entered. In Florida, court’s have the ability to withhold that conviction which will still result in a fine and an entry on your driving record, but will mean that no points are imposed. That is important both to avoid suspensions but also for insurance purposes. Only offenses for which a conviction is entered can be considered by insurance companies. There are alternatives. Contact us at Epstein & Robbins to discuss your options.

At the law office of Epstein & Robbins, we know that good people can run into big problems with traffic violations and DUI charges. We are here to help. We provide aggressive, dedicated and skillful defense to clients arrested in north Florida. If your license is at stake, contact our Jacksonville law office online or call us at 904-354-5645. We are available 24/7.