What is a driving history? The Department of Motor Vehicles keeps a record of all motor vehicle license related activity such as when your driving permit becomes valid, and when that permit changes over into a regular adult driver’s license. They also keep records of all your traffic violation convictions. Tickets are not convictions, and if your are not convicted the DMV can’t record them. However if you are convicted of the violation, they do record the ticket, and if you have too many points, (or any other suspendable reason) DMV suspends your license.

When you are charged with a traffic violation and you wish to obtain a plea reduction from the District Attorney, or from the town or village appointed prosecutor, they will ask you for a copy of your driving record in order to use their discretion as to how strongly they wish to prosecute your case, and at what point they will be willing to compromise. When a traffic ticket violation attorney represents you, the prosecutor still wants to know who he/she is prosecuting, and will ask for their motorist’s driving history record from your attorney.

What is a driving history? The Department of Motor Vehicles keeps a record of all motor vehicle license related activity such as when your driving permit becomes valid, and when that permit changes over into a regular adult driver’s license.

According to the driver privacy act, when an attorney access a driving history record the attorney must keep his own records demonstrating that he is representing the motorist, and that his client consented to have his record accessed.

Recently the Department of Data Services (which provides internet access to driving records) asked us to provide a business record which indicates that one of the searches which we conducted was on behave of my client. It took a little digging to find the file which we were working on a month before, and thankfully they only asked for one record, because providing records on every client we represented over the last year would have taken a long time in unbillable hours!

So the next time your check your client’s driving record ask yourself do I have supporting documentation showing that I am allowed to conduct this search?

The post Driving History record search Audit appeared first on The Law Offices of Zev Goldstein, PLLC.

Most drivers will never get 10 traffic violation suspensions. They get one, or a few, and they either pay the tickets off, or they hire a lawyer to fight them, and then they are very careful to not let that happen to them again. How does a driver get 10 or more driving suspensions? Are they so rich that they just don’t care about the ticket? Then why don’t they take care of their tickets?

The answer is simple, they never pay their traffic tickets. They think it is an inconvenience to get the ticket, the cops holds them up for a while and yells at them, but then they drive on, and say “are you kidding me not answer calls on my cell phone”?

The suspensions usually take a number of months to go into effect, longer if the can motorist push off the Court appearances. Some motorists can keep the suspensions at bay for well over a year.

By the time the motorist is arrested it is possible that the driver will have the magic number of 10 suspensions, pushing this scoff law crime over the edge of a Misdemeanor, into a Felony.

Then the suspensions kick in. At first it’s only a few, and even if they are stopped for driving with a suspension many police officers are kind and don’t arrest the driver for the Misdemeanor of driving on a suspended license. By the time the motorist is arrested it is possible that the driver will have the magic number of 10 suspensions, pushing this scoff law crime over the edge of a Misdemeanor, into a Felony.

The driver just sits on the other end of the line and says so? I have tickets, I didn’t pay them. I am still driving. Whats the matter?

The post How does a driver get 10 or more driving suspensions? appeared first on The Law Offices of Zev Goldstein, PLLC.

Interestingly enough in the state of Washington lawmakers can not be stopped for none misdemeanor traffic infractions, so the councilman would not have been stopped in the first place, and he would have never been Arrested for Driving on a Suspended License. If however the police officer’s computer would have read off the license plate regarding the suspension, even in the state of Washington he would have Arrested for Driving on a Suspended License, being that it is a  misdemeanor. 

There are a few things to learn from this story about traffic violations, and the first is that you should respond to your traffic tickets in a timely manor. Some people are unsure about what to do with their traffic ticket, and delay responding by the due date, which results in their driver’s license being suspended. Then out of the blue while driving down the street they could be arrested for driving on a suspended license. If you are not sure of what to do with your ticket, you should consult with an attorney before the date listed of the citation.

Another thing to remember is the cellphone law in New York. Using a cellphone — even while on speaker, and even if you are not holding the cellphone — can result in serious penalties. New York is taking an aggressive stand against cellphone use while driving. So, if you are accused of this violation and you believe the violation does not apply in your case, talk things over with an attorney.

Last but not least, if your license has been suspended or if it is no longer valid, you need to address this issue quickly. Again, an attorney with experience dealing with New York traffic violations can be of great service to you in this regard.

Source: NY Daily News, “City Council candidate Noah Gotbaum arrested over license violation,” Thomas Tracy, Sept. 3, 2013

The post Arrested for Driving on a Suspended License New York City Council appeared first on The Law Offices of Zev Goldstein, PLLC.