{"id":945,"date":"2020-09-02T11:08:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-02T16:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ctgore.com\/?p=945"},"modified":"2020-09-21T11:11:25","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T16:11:25","slug":"what-to-do-if-youre-caught-driving-with-a-suspended-license-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ctgore.com\/what-to-do-if-youre-caught-driving-with-a-suspended-license-in-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Do if You&#8217;re Caught Driving With a Suspended License in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Are you one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kut.org\/post\/most-drivers-license-suspensions-texas-are-because-drivers-cant-afford-pay-their-fines\">2.3 million people<\/a> in Texas with a suspended license?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If so and you continue to drive, you&#8217;re putting yourself at risk of getting caught every time you&#8217;re on the road.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or, maybe you don&#8217;t realize your license is suspended and you get pulled over. In that case, you&#8217;ll still be facing the consequences of driving with a suspended license.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, what should you do if you&#8217;re caught driving with a suspended license here in Texas? You&#8217;ve come to the right place.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to learn more about why your license can be suspended, what you should do if you&#8217;re caught driving, and how to get a suspended license reinstated.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Do You Know If&nbsp;You Have a Suspended License?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The state of Texas must notify you if you&#8217;ve done something that causes you to receive a license suspension.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll receive a letter in the mail from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dps.texas.gov\/DriverLicense\/suspensionNotification.htm\">Texas Department of Public Safety<\/a> which will outline why your license status is being changed. However, keep in mind that even if you don&#8217;t receive the letter,&nbsp;you still have a suspended license and cannot legally drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is why it&#8217;s important to make sure that you update your address on the Texas Department of Public Safety&#8217;s website&nbsp;when you move, so your current address is always on file.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think you may have a suspended license but you haven&#8217;t received an official notice from the state, you can check your&nbsp;driving eligibility online at any time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reasons for Suspension<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Even though it may seem like it, when the state suspends your license, it&#8217;s not to make your life inconvenient. It&#8217;s&nbsp;done to help keep the roads safe and discourage people from breaking traffic laws.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are a number of reasons your license might get suspended in the state of Texas, including the following.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Committing four or more traffic violations in a 12-month period<\/li><li>Committing seven or more traffic violations in a 24-month period<\/li><li>Failing to pay required child support payments<\/li><li>Driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol<\/li><li>Using a fake ID&nbsp;<\/li><li>Driving without an active insurance policy<\/li><li>Leaving the scene of an accident<\/li><li>Causing a serious accident because of negligent driving<\/li><li>Eluding the police while driving a vehicle<\/li><li>Failing to pay court fees<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This is by no means an exhaustive list, but these are some of the most common reasons for a license suspension.&nbsp;In some cases, you can request a court hearing to appeal the suspension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Length of Suspension<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There is no set standard for the length of time of your license suspension. Instead, there are several factors that affect how long you lose your driving privileges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A hearing officer will determine the length. It is often based on the number of previous offenses you&#8217;ve had, your age, and what you did to cause the suspension.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if you receive a suspension because of traffic tickets, your suspension will most likely be shorter than if you&#8217;re&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ctgore.com\/5-documents-to-show-your-dwi-dui-lawyer\/\">convicted of a DWI<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In some cases, your license may be suspended for as long as two years, or you may even receive an indefinite suspension.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Legal Penalties for Driving with a Suspended License<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In Texas, driving while your license is suspended is considered a misdemeanor. The circumstances dictate whether you&#8217;ll receive a charge of Class A, Class B, or Class C misdemeanor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first time you&#8217;re caught driving with a suspended license, you&#8217;ll receive a Class C misdemeanor charge and get a fine of up to $500.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re caught a second time or your initial suspension was because of a DWI, you&#8217;ll get a Class B misdemeanor charge. That can result in a fine of up to $2,000 and\/or jail time of up to 180 days.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you cause a serious accident while driving with a suspended license, you&#8217;ll receive a Class C misdemeanor, and get a fine of up to $4,000. You may also receive jail time of up to 365 days.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You&nbsp;could also get an extended suspension period in any of these circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What to Do If You&#8217;re Caught<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you know you are driving while you&#8217;re on a suspended license and you see the flashing blue lights behind you, you may consider trying to flee. However, that will only make things much worse.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead,&nbsp;just pull over. The officer will&nbsp;then pull up your information and inform you that you have a suspended license and should not be driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, remember that you still have rights. And, you don&#8217;t have to go through this process alone.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve been caught, <a href=\"https:\/\/ctgore.com\/practice-areas\/driving-while-license-suspended-invalid\/\">contact a lawyer<\/a>&nbsp;like Christopher T. Gore that specializes in driving on a suspended license.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our team can review your case and help you determine the best course of action to get your license reinstated.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Get Your License Reinstated<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;ve been caught driving while your license is suspended, you&#8217;ll end up having a court hearing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although it&#8217;s not required to have a lawyer represent you at your hearing, you&#8217;ll have a better chance of getting the suspension reversed or the length of it reduced with an expert on your side.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once your suspension is up, you&#8217;ll then need to apply for reinstatement with the state of Texas. A lawyer can help you with the paperwork to ensure that you&#8217;ve done everything you need to do to get your license back.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your reinstatement request is denied, a lawyer can also help you navigate the often confusing appeal process.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">We&#8217;re On Your Side<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;ve been caught driving with a suspended license, we understand it&#8217;s an overwhelming time. You don&#8217;t have to go through it alone.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our team specializes in these types of cases and we&#8217;ll be here for you every step of the way. <a href=\"https:\/\/ctgore.com\/contact\/\">Schedule a consultation<\/a> with us today so we can learn more about your case and discuss how we can help.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you one of the 2.3 million people in Texas with a suspended license? If so and you continue to drive, you&#8217;re putting yourself at risk<span class=\"excerpt-hellip\"> [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What to Do if You&#039;re Caught Driving With a Suspended License in Texas -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You were pulled over and unaware that you had a suspended license. Now you&#039;re being faced with a charge. Keep reading to learn what your options are.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ctgore.com\/what-to-do-if-youre-caught-driving-with-a-suspended-license-in-texas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What to Do if You&#039;re Caught Driving With a Suspended License in Texas -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You were pulled over and unaware that you had a suspended license. Now you&#039;re being faced with a charge. Keep reading to learn what your options are.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ctgore.com\/what-to-do-if-youre-caught-driving-with-a-suspended-license-in-texas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Christopher T. 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