Trying to avoid a suspended license

[dethwsh]

What is the name of your state? CA

I have several speeding tickets & I have some questions about avoiding a suspension of my driver’s license.

However, before I get to the details, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am aware that speeding can be dangerous & that I should slow down. I do have some concerns about the current traffic laws & the way that they are enforced, but that should be discussed in a political forum, so I will not bring it up here. I only mention all of this to discourage those of you who want to post comments on my bad behavior, the politics of speeding laws, jokes about my handle, etc. I hope that the intent of this forum is to provide helpful information regardless of the bad behavior of the one doing the posting.

Now, on to my questions:
According to their web site ([url]http://www.dmv.ca.gov[/url]), the CA DMV will suspend your license for being a negligent operator as follows:
You will be considered a negligent operator if your driving record shows any of the following point count totals:
• 4 points in 12 months, or
• 6 points in 24 months, or
• 8 points in 36 months


I recently received a warning letter from the CA DMV which showed my driving record which I have summarized below:
VIOL DT CONV DT POINTS
05-30-03 07-11-03 1
01-26-04 03-11-04 1


In addition to those, I have recently received 2 more speeding tickets on 5/7/04 & 5/21/04 (I can hear your jokes already). Both of those tickets were for over 25mph above the speed limit, so although I have not attended traffic school in the last 18 months, I am not immediately eligible for traffic school (which removes the ticket from the driving record) unless a judge allows it. I just got back from the mandatory appearance for the first ticket & the judge was definitely NOT interested in letting me attend traffic school, so I ended up pleading guilty, paying the fine, etc.

I have 3 questions:
1) Did the letter that the DMV sent include my full driving record or did they just show recent points. I think I had another point less than 3 years ago (according to the web site, 1 point violations only stay on the record for 3 years), but it wasn’t on the letter. Did they give me the full driving record showing all 3 years of violations?

2) Are the points per year based on the violation date or the conviction date? I suspect that the same thing will happen for my mandatory appearance for the 2nd ticket (i.e. the judge will not allow traffic school), which means I’ll have 4 points. However, the due date on my courtesy notice is 7/15/04, so even if I get convicted on that date, since my first conviction was on 07/11/03, I should be safe (at least for the moment) from the 4 points in 12 months, right?

3) Can the judge decide to take away my license regardless of the points/year when I make my next mandatory appearance? If so, any advice on how to avoid that?

That’s it for now. Thanks in advance for any helpful advice that you may offer.

[dethwsh]

Wow, I guess everyone decided not to reply once they saw that I wanted real advice and not jokes/slams.

However, just to follow-up, I still don't know the answer to the 3 questions. I can tell you that for question #3, it seems like a judge can take away your license regardless of the points/year. At least that is the way the 1st judge made it seem according to his comments.

However, on a happy note for me, the 2nd judge is letting me go to traffic school, so the last ticket won't be on my record at all.

That doesn't help answer the questions, though, so if anyone knows the answer(s), please feel free to let us know.

Thanks

[racer72]

How long did it take you get all your violations? Bet it was longer than the 5 hours you waited for a response.

[You Are Guilty]

Excellent point. I was going to respond with a nice answer, but it really gets my goat that people expect free legal advice within seconds of their posts, ignoring all the people who actually pay for a lawyer's time. So, instead, I'll just revel in the fact that pretty soon this joker will not have a driver's license anymore and thus won't be back here whining about his tickets.

[Happy Trails]

His first post was on 06-03-04.

Dethwsh, it looks by what you have posted, you will only have three points.

Now, I know you don't want to hear slow down and all that. So I will just tell you to set your clock forward maybe 10 minutes, allowing you more time to get to where you need to go.

[You Are Guilty]

Doh! Who decided the sixth month is June and not August and didn't tell me?

However, I'll stand by my decision not to answer this one. After two months, or two years even, getting snippy with strangers who are helping you for free, especially when there are other people paying $300/hour for the same information is just a poor attitude.