Driving in California without a California Driver's License

[marcus_xavier]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California


Hey guys, first off I want to thank anybody who's willing to take the time to answer the questions I have.

So here's my story: I was driving in Los Angeles and got pulled over a police officer who noticed that the tags on my license plate were expired.

(I know this is stupid, but I moved to Los Angeles from Virginia a year and a half ago and purchased my car shortly after. Unlike in Virginia where the registration is listed on the front windshield, here it is a small sticker on the license plate. being the absent-minded person I am, I just sort of forgot to do it as many things were coming up).

When the cop pulled me over he discovered that I did not have a California Driver's License and I couldn't find my proof of insurance (which I have by the way). I presented him instead with a valid Virginia Driver's License.

Long story short, after padding me down against the back of my car and seating me in the back of his car, he told me he wasn't going to send me to jail and that I was being charged with a misdemeanor trail.

I understand it's my fault for not getting my license and my registration taken care of. The only excuse I have is that there were two or three periods of time where I was planning to leave CA and return to VA. I got charged with 12500, 16028, and 4000.

I have been trying to call the court to get my questions answered since last Thursday when the citation happened, but they keep knocking me off their automated system saying their lines are too busy.


My questions are as follows:

1) My ticket states that none of the three are "correctable violations." I was thinking about going to the DMV on Monday and taking care of everything. If that's possible, is it legal for me to drive again? I need to drive for work and my court date is not for another two months.

2) I've heard that at times judges will reduce a misdemeanor down to an infraction. In my case I went over a year with out a CA license, but with a VALID VA license. What are the chances I will be shown any mercy and the misdemeanor charges dropped?

3) What do you think is the estimate for all the fines I will have to pay?

4) Would I recommend I drive down to the court (after I get my license) and ask them these questions?

Once again, sorry if the questions are somethings I can easily find online elsewhere. I have been looking and tried to call the court repeatedly to no avail. Thanks for any help.

 

[CdwJava]

1) My ticket states that none of the three are "correctable violations." I was thinking about going to the DMV on Monday and taking care of everything. If that's possible, is it legal for me to drive again? I need to drive for work and my court date is not for another two months.

If you are carrying proof of insurance, have the vehicle properly registered, and have a valid CA driver's license, you can drive the car.

2) I've heard that at times judges will reduce a misdemeanor down to an infraction. In my case I went over a year with out a CA license, but with a VALID VA license. What are the chances I will be shown any mercy and the misdemeanor charges dropped?

As a first offense this is almost always handled in traffic court as an infraction. If you have proof of all three items being corrected, bring them to court. The court can always make the license and registration correctable even if the officer did not indicate they were. And the insurance issues is only correctable by the court or court clerk.

3) What do you think is the estimate for all the fines I will have to pay?

That depends on whether or not you get them all corrected. If they charge per violation, then $75 if they are corrected, and if not corrected or allowed to be reduced as correctable then about $363 for the 12500, $255 for the 4000(a) and $825 for the 16028(a).

4) Would I recommend I drive down to the court (after I get my license) and ask them these questions?

You can. Or you can call. or, just show up at court with everything corrected and ask if the court can make this a correctable violation.

 

[DRTDEVL]

Unlike in Virginia where the registration is listed on the front windshield, here it is a small sticker on the license plate.

Lots of people with VA experience here. Not gonna pull this fast one.

Va uses the same "small sticker on the license plate". The sticker you are referring to is your inspection sticker which does not always correlate with your registration month.

You knew it was expired. You knew you were in CA for more than a year. You rolled the dice and lost.

 

[FlyingRon]

You're also deluded about Virginia. The stickers on your windshield have NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the registration. The state inspection sticker only indicates your car was inspected. It has a different (annual) period than the registration (which might be two years) and if it expires the same month, it's purely coincidental. The only other sticker is the county tax stickers and those who issue them annually typically only do it one time per year. Arlington stickers are good forever and Fairfax finally just abolished them (because with computers they have better means of enforcement than looking at stickers).