Alexandria Unlicensed Driving Lawyer

Driving without a valid license is considered a different offense from driving while suspended in Alexandria. Driving without a license means either a person’s license expired or a person never had one in the first place. The first time a person is charged with driving without a valid license, the consequences are not as severe. Although it is considered a Class 2 misdemeanor, which is punishable by jail time and a large fine, the likelihood of active jail time for a true first offense is remote.

If a person has a problem with the validity of their license and they take care of that problem by the time they go to court, the court will acknowledge that they have complied with law enforcement and may dismiss the charge. However, many people get in trouble in Alexandria when they are driving without a license because they cannot get a license, and then they cannot get a license because they are cannot prove legal presence or another necessary element of licensing in Virginia. Those people cannot get a license in Virginia and once judges see convictions piling up for a person, they will send them to jail. If an undocumented person spends time in jail for a traffic violation like driving without a license, they could be investigated by immigration and face possible deportation.

As a result, if you are facing charges of unlicensed driving for a first or subsequent offense, an Alexandria unlicensed driving lawyer is essential in helping you to understand your rights and the varying potential penalties in order to begin building the best defense for your traffic case.

Potential Penalties

Driving without a license for a first offense in Alexandria is considered a Class 2 misdemeanor. The most common reasons a person is charged with this offense is because they let their valid license lapse or expire, or they recently moved to Virginia and did not get a Virginia license within 60 days, which is required by law. Another possibility may be that they are not eligible to get a license in Virginia due to the lack of document status, but they drive anyway.

The penalties for this offense will depend upon whether the person has prior convictions and the reasons why a person might not have a valid license in the first place. If this is their first offense and the charge was written because a person forgot to renew the license at the time it expired and has taken care of that problem prior to going to court, a judge may consider that in mitigation of the offense.

However, if a person has multiple prior offenses, or is driving without a valid license because they cannot get a valid license in Virginia, the person will need an Alexandria unlicensed driving attorney to help with their intricacies of their case as they may face incarceration.

Long-Term Implications

If a person is convicted of driving without a valid license in Virginia, there are both short-term and long-term consequences. The more convictions a person racks up, the more severe the consequences are going to be.

In some cases, people go to jail for significant amounts of time for driving without a license. While avoidable, people often feel as though they are trapped by licensing laws in Virginia, because it is impossible to get a driver’s license in Virginia if a person is not legally residing within the state.

Driving Without a Registration

If a person is charged in Alexandria with driving without a registration, they do not need to hire a lawyer for this charge. They do have to make sure that by the time their court date rolls around, they have their registration in order. This means they went to DMV, renewed their license plates, or did whatever it is needed to comply with Virginia law.

Once a person goes to court, a person needs to show the officer and the judge they are now in compliance with Virginia law as it pertains to their vehicle’s registration and license plates. Once the court sees that a person has complied with the law, they should dismiss the charge against that person and may just have to pay court costs.

Expectations

A person’s expectations for this kind of case will depend upon a number of variables, most notably the number of times the person has been convicted of this charge and the reasons why the person was charged with driving without a license in the first place.

Those are the two most important variables that will dictate what a person’s reasonable expectation should be for this kind of case. If a person is driving without a valid license because they forgot to renew it or they have not gotten a Virginia license after moving to the Commonwealth within 60 days, the judge would offer leniency toward the person. However, if they are driving, caught with multiple priors for the same thing, and the reason they continue to get these charges is because they cannot get a Virginia license, there are more significant penalties to face in court.

Call an Alexandria Lawyer for Unlicensed Driving Charges

An Alexandria unlicensed driving attorney will be able to represent their client facing such offenses and will best help explain all intricacies of their case. Contact our firm today for help.