jeffro0050
New Member
Hello everyone, I have a quick issue if anyone has any advice.
My insurance lapsed from August 10th-23rd of this year. It has not lapsed before or since.
The issue is that I was away at school up until October of this year, and my father was at the time in charge of making payments on it.
Once I returned home, I took over payments and have not seen a lapse of any kind.
Now, unbeknownst to me, the lapse happened and I had incurred the suspension charge in august, but did not receive notification of the suspension until after I had received a citation- The officer was kind enough not to impound my vehicle as he believed that I was completely in the dark about the lapse, as I was.
I quickly paid my insurance several months in advance as well as the reinstatement fee thinking that the lapse had been a recent occurance, and did not believe that any further action was necessary. I then found out that I have a court date in the Dekalb County recorder's court and cannot prepay to get rid of it- I must be present in court.
After a little more research, I found that the standard citation for driving a suspended vehicle was 800 dollars or more in Dekalb county.
My questions are these-
I have pulled full documentation showing that I was fully unaware of the august lapse until after I received a citation(which was actually after I had already re-registered my tag at the same office), that I paid what I owed immediately after I was informed of the suspension, and that I have kept current insurance and registration since.
If I present this documentation to the judge, or to whomever is prosecuting me, am I likely to receive a break on the charges? Should I get a lawyer, or is that foolish considering that it would likely cost me far more than 800 dollars? Should I plead not-guilty and then show the documentation?
I am completely lost as to what course of action would be the most intelligent- My driving record is completely clean and I have never contested a ticket in court before.
As I just returned from school and just started a job, 800 dollars would be absolutely devastating to me under my current circumstances.
Thank you for your time,
Jeffrey
My insurance lapsed from August 10th-23rd of this year. It has not lapsed before or since.
The issue is that I was away at school up until October of this year, and my father was at the time in charge of making payments on it.
Once I returned home, I took over payments and have not seen a lapse of any kind.
Now, unbeknownst to me, the lapse happened and I had incurred the suspension charge in august, but did not receive notification of the suspension until after I had received a citation- The officer was kind enough not to impound my vehicle as he believed that I was completely in the dark about the lapse, as I was.
I quickly paid my insurance several months in advance as well as the reinstatement fee thinking that the lapse had been a recent occurance, and did not believe that any further action was necessary. I then found out that I have a court date in the Dekalb County recorder's court and cannot prepay to get rid of it- I must be present in court.
After a little more research, I found that the standard citation for driving a suspended vehicle was 800 dollars or more in Dekalb county.
My questions are these-
I have pulled full documentation showing that I was fully unaware of the august lapse until after I received a citation(which was actually after I had already re-registered my tag at the same office), that I paid what I owed immediately after I was informed of the suspension, and that I have kept current insurance and registration since.
If I present this documentation to the judge, or to whomever is prosecuting me, am I likely to receive a break on the charges? Should I get a lawyer, or is that foolish considering that it would likely cost me far more than 800 dollars? Should I plead not-guilty and then show the documentation?
I am completely lost as to what course of action would be the most intelligent- My driving record is completely clean and I have never contested a ticket in court before.
As I just returned from school and just started a job, 800 dollars would be absolutely devastating to me under my current circumstances.
Thank you for your time,
Jeffrey
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