What kind of offense is it if you get caught driving without a driver's license?

Answer 1

See, for example, Nebraska law:

10.16.060 Operator Must be Licensed.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a motor vehicle, except a farm tractor, minibike, or snowmobile, upon any street, alley, or highway within the city, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, without having on his or her person and in full force and effect an operator's license or learner's permit to operate it as provided by the laws of the State of Nebraska.

Other laws deal with when a foreign or out-of-state license may be used.

If one is driving unlicensed, then most likely the car insurance doesn't cover the driving, so one may also be charged with driving while uninsured.

Here is the judgment in a New York state case where a driver was prosecuted for felony first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/ctapps/decisions/mar06/45opn06.pdf (PDF)

Answer 2

A simplified answer:

1. If you are a licensed driver but forgot to have it with you when stopped for something else, you may be cited for not having your license "in you possession". Later, show the court you have one and that violation is dismissed or the fine very minor - it can go both ways.

2. If you just plain don't have a license - "unlicensed" - because you were never issued one in the first place, or it was suspended or revoked, it's more serious and will be a misdemeanor. That causes you more headaches, because a court appearance is ordinarily required and it only delays further your ability to get a valid license.

Answer 3

If you mean caught driving on a "suspended" license it is a felony offense, and if it is suspended due to D.U.I. it will be your second felony, headed for the "three strikes, and your out of society and cooling your heels in the big house for several months." If you are just a kid who is in a hurry to start driving before you have a license, and you are caught, it is a mandatory 3 days in the stockade on public display on the town square for the good people of your community to point, laugh, and throw rotten tomato's at.

Answer 4

In TX it is a citeable offense, you will receive a ticket and probably be able to get it dismissed if you set up a court date, get a valid license by the time you go back to show it to the judge, if there are circumstances that prevent you from obtaining a license, like if you have unpaid surcharges to the state or whatever, you can go to jail for having suspended driving priviledge.......

Answer 5

You will be led to believe it is a criminal offense, but since no penal code has been violated, you will appear in a judicial court for a civil offense. In actuality, because the Motor Vehicle Code is an Administrative one, your offense is administrative and you are entitled to an administrative hearing by the highest officer of the regulatory administration, i.e., the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, etc.. This is NEVER done. Ask yourself how an administrative violation wound you up in a judicial courtroom. How does it acquire jurisdiction? Answer: through sufficiency of pleading. The very act of pleading guilty or not guilty creates a judicial controversy and grants the court jurisdiction over you. Pretty nifty scam, eh? This is how we are vicimized by our own government.

Answer 6

Here in New York if you are charged you will be charged with Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a motor vehicle which is an unclassified misdemeanor. Our department policy is usually to arrest the person and tow the vehicle and bail is usually set at 250.00. Add in the court cost of 95.00 , the tow fee and the points to your license and the punishment of insurance premiums being jacked up a bit and it really isn't worth it.

Answer 7

That's usually the name of the offence: "driving without a license". In most states, that's either a misdemeanor or a traffic ordinance violation.

Answer 8

while police droop somebody's license, that's for a reason, incredibly public risk-free practices. If somebody who's risky to the familiar public retains using, that's purely a count of time in the previous they harm or kill somebody. I mean, come on, thrice is merely ridiculous. If the decide determines you're no longer risk-free to force, you do no longer force. era.

Answer 9

Misdemeanor in most states Depending upon whether you never had a license or if they were revoked or suspended

Answer 10

It's a misdemeanor unless you are involved in an accident with over $500 damage, in which case it becomes a felony. And - why would you do it?