intelcoreinside
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachussetts.
I am an international visitor from India, working on J1 Visa as an exchange visitor. I was carrying my Indian driving license and international driving permit along with it. I also had a learners permit from MA RMV and was in the process of scheduling my road test.
The RMV website in Massachusetts says that an international visitor can drive with an international permit for upto a year. Since I had my international permit from India, I was driving without a supervised by a license holder with me during the time of incident.
I was stopped by a cop as I passed a red light (it was actually a yellow and I was quite fast and did not want to stop late).
I received a ticket for
1. criminal offense - for driving without a valid licence.
2. passing red without stopping.
I tried to explain to the officer that the website says I could drive upto a year with an international permit but he refused to accept that. He said since the car is registered in my name and I am staying in this country now, I can no longer use the int permit but should have a supervised driver with my permit.
I was told that I will receive summons to attend a court hearing in a month from now.
I am very confused and worried as I have no idea of how the system in this country works and what consequences this incident would have on my career.
Would really appreciate your help with my questions.
1. To what extent would I be punished or fined?? is there a chance that I could get imprisonment? I heard I could be fined upto $600. Is this true?
2. If i accept that it is a fault, will they just ask me to pay the fine and let me go or ?
3. Is this a serious case ?. Should I look in for a lawyer.!? I dont think I could afford one.
I am planning to complete my road test and get a valid license before the appearance date in court.
Please help me out. Thank you.
I am an international visitor from India, working on J1 Visa as an exchange visitor. I was carrying my Indian driving license and international driving permit along with it. I also had a learners permit from MA RMV and was in the process of scheduling my road test.
The RMV website in Massachusetts says that an international visitor can drive with an international permit for upto a year. Since I had my international permit from India, I was driving without a supervised by a license holder with me during the time of incident.
I was stopped by a cop as I passed a red light (it was actually a yellow and I was quite fast and did not want to stop late).
I received a ticket for
1. criminal offense - for driving without a valid licence.
2. passing red without stopping.
I tried to explain to the officer that the website says I could drive upto a year with an international permit but he refused to accept that. He said since the car is registered in my name and I am staying in this country now, I can no longer use the int permit but should have a supervised driver with my permit.
I was told that I will receive summons to attend a court hearing in a month from now.
I am very confused and worried as I have no idea of how the system in this country works and what consequences this incident would have on my career.
Would really appreciate your help with my questions.
1. To what extent would I be punished or fined?? is there a chance that I could get imprisonment? I heard I could be fined upto $600. Is this true?
2. If i accept that it is a fault, will they just ask me to pay the fine and let me go or ?
3. Is this a serious case ?. Should I look in for a lawyer.!? I dont think I could afford one.
I am planning to complete my road test and get a valid license before the appearance date in court.
Please help me out. Thank you.