So I got a speeding ticket. It was in New Jersey, but I have an Oklahoma driver’s license. The Municipal Court of Mt. Laurel, NJ wants to suspend my license. Is my license suspended all over the country or just in New Jersey?
I have asked a lawyer, actually I asked two and one said just New Jersey and the other said it would be effective nationally
I can provide any other details that you need, just ask. I have no idea who else to go to in this matter.
I cannot imagine how the state of New Jersey has the authority to revoke a license granted by the state of Oklahoma. I think the Full Faith and Credit clause would also require New Jersey to recognize your Oklahoma driver’s license as valid in NJ. I believe that NJ could use a driver’s license compact to report the infraction to Oklahoma, who could then suspend your license, in which case you could not drive legally in any state. But I don’t see how the NJ court can act alone to suspend your Oklahoma license. Do they just “want to” suspend the license, or have they actually entered a judgment to that effect?
I just found this:
http://meignatoff.com/mainpages/questions.htm
So I guess I was wrong about NJ being required to recognize your license, but right about the rest.
I went to court and their judgement was the huge fine, 5 points on my license and a 60 day suspension. I told them I would be back with a lawyer. Thanks so much for the link bchula that should be helpful. It was just a speeding ticket, no alcohol involved.
They want to suspend your license for speeding? What were you doing, Warp 9?
Commercial licenses are a bit different. There is a national database of CDL’s. If you don’t pay a traffic fine in one state, it can be detected in another state. If you commit an offense in another state, it will be reflected in your commercial driving record at home. If the offense was serious enough to require suspension (i.e. drunk driving), your home state will suspend your license when it is notified.
Slow down. Enjoy the scenery.
For what it’s worth, a couple summers ago, I was given a speeding ticket in Kansas driving from Denver to Ohio. Figuring I’d not likely drive through Kansas ever again in my life, for the love of God, I decided to not pay the ticket.
Well, a month or so later, the Kansas BMV sent me a letter saying that I was late paying a ticket, and if I didn’t pay up soon, they’d inform Ohio, and then I’d be grounded…err…my license would be suspended.
Who knows, they may have been bluffing, but I wasn’t about to take any chances.
Jeff
We’re talking New Jersey here! What scenery?
That may be true, actually. Missouri has an agreement with Kansas in that, should a Missouri driver fail to pay a fine or show up in court for a Kansas-side violation, Missouri will suspend the driver’s license. Check out this page. It looks like Missouri doesn’t limit it to just one state; so other states may also treat out-of-state infractions the same way.
Umm, if you already have been to court, what’s the point of coming back with a lawyer? I must be missing some detail here.
General rule of thumb: although no other state has the authority to revoke a license issued in another state, many states are “in communication” with each other. If your license is suspended in state X, they will often notify state Y (your home state), and state Y will often suspend your license. I believe it used to be that only states very close to each other did this, but my guess is that its more widespread than it used to be.
I think I may have found out the answer to my own question. occ is on the right track. Well, that’s the way it is technically. But there is an act called the Interstate Commerce Act that requires states to uphold some suspensions made by other states in order to receive Federal Highway funding. This is only for some suspensions and I’m not sure what the requirements are, but hopefully my speeding ticket does not count.
Oh, MLS that’s the way the courts in jersey work. My license would have been suspended immediately, giving me no way to come home, a of all. But b of all, you have a better chance of getting a good deal by delaying the decision as long as you can. C of all, lawyers are common place for traffic violations up here. Not sure why, but. . .
Moral of the story: If you ask enough lawyers, one of them will eventually know enough to help out wiht your very unique particular situation.
Oddly enough either NJ and PA have no such agreement (surprising really) or NJ simply let me slide in my case. I got a speeding ticket in NJ while on vacation years ago, never paid it, and never suffered in PA for it. It could of course be a problem in NJ, but I don’t know how long that kind of thing stays on record for.