# how do people with suspended drivers license get food? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 21, 2013, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545 "2013-06-21T07:33:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/142 "2013-06-27T15:53:53Z")
> [@Macca26](#): > > Considering that generally people lose their license over doing very dangerous crap that could kill people around them, I think they’re stupid for doing it, period. My scorn towards them has nothing to do with where they live and how their life will be affected by their behavior. If they lived in a walk-centric location they would not suddenly be less dumb in my mind for extreme speeding or DUI. It’s stupid and dangerous either way you cut it. > > Yes, I know people can lose their license from the point system. If you go through that many points in 3 years, you’re dangerous. And not in a good way. There are lots of other ways to get your license suspended. As a cop I’ve pulled over many dozens of suspended drivers. A very small percentage have been suspended as a direct punishment for a dangerous act. The vast majority were suspended for not paying one of the dozens of [del]taxes[/del] fees or surcharges to the DMV. Of course they suspend you first then send out the notice so I’ve pulled over plenty that don’t even know it. But when I run the plate it comes up suspended. Then they get charged with driving while suspended. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/143 "2013-06-27T15:56:26Z")
> [@And\_his\_buzzer\_goes](#): > > I’m genuinely curious : can someone point me to a google maps/streetview of such a suburban car-only area ? No. Because that can not show you bus routes and such. But I can assure you, in my state those routes are few and far between outside of urban areas. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/144 "2013-06-27T16:03:52Z")
> [@And\_his\_buzzer\_goes](#): > > I’m genuinely curious : can someone point me to a google maps/streetview of such a suburban car-only area ? Sure. Here is one of many that I know of. Keep in mind that the whole subdivision has a fence around it so you can’t even take shortcuts through fields even if there was somewhere nearby to buy food or anything else. [https://maps.google.com/maps?q=5+fox+hollow+ln,+Melissa,+TX&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x864c6d7d4993f929:0x5ef90e797411cee9,5+Fox+Hollow+Ln,+Melissa,+TX+75454&gl=us&ei=ymHMUcL7MKr64AONu4HgBw&ved=0CDAQ8gEwAA](https://maps.google.com/maps?q=5+fox+hollow+ln,+Melissa,+TX&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x864c6d7d4993f929:0x5ef90e797411cee9,5+Fox+Hollow+Ln,+Melissa,+TX+75454&gl=us&ei=ymHMUcL7MKr64AONu4HgBw&ved=0CDAQ8gEwAA) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/145 "2013-06-27T16:18:42Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I don’t think the argument is that there aren’t places where it’s easy to get by without a car, but that there are plenty of places where it’s difficult/impossible. Anecdotes about walkable lifestyles are not significant. Yes, there are places where, if you aren’t able to drive a car, you’ve got a significant impairment in your standard of living. And…? You either move to a place where you can bus/walk/bike to work and the grocery store (yeah that costs money), or you bum rides from people, or you drive without a license, or you lie down in the middle of the living room floor and starve to death. Most people do not live way out in the country, and the proof of that is that if you live way out in the country where there are no people, you’re the only one living there. And again the big problem is not how you get groceries, it’s how you get to work. Unless you’re living on disability or are retired or supported by your family, you have to work to live, and if you can’t get to work then you can’t afford your housing and you’ll be out on the streets begging for change and your lack of a car won’t be so much of a problem. Look, where I live on Vashon is pretty rural. And there are lots and lots of people who can’t drive, won’t drive, don’t own a car, lost their license, too young to get a license, don’t have the physical and mental ability to drive a car, and on and on. And how do they live? They live with friends and family, they live near the town, they walk an hour to the main highway and then take the bus, they ride bikes and skateboards, they hitchhike, and so on. And they usually don’t really hold down steady jobs, they are only marginally employed. And often the reason they can’t drive is related to the reason they can’t hold down a steady job–they have substance problems, they have a problem with authority, they have physical or mental disabilities, they’re bone lazy, and on and on. Nobody is starving though. The problem of not being able to pop down to the grocery store every five minutes is the least of their problems. ---
**Author:** ![matt357](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@matt357](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt357)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/146 "2013-06-27T17:40:13Z")
> [@SpyOne](#): > > Yes, having your license suspended is supposed to be _incredibly_ inconvenient. Yes, it is expected you will have problems getting to work. I find it hard to believe the government wants to make it almost impossible for some people to get to work, so they lose their jobs for being late or not being able to go, and then turn to crime. Not everyone has a friend they can bum rides from everyday for a 30 minute drive to get to work. And even if they did have someone to do that if their friend couldn’t make it one day they could be fired. And the idea of moving to a different house becasue they got their license suspended is ridiculous. Not to mention house shopping without a car would be almost impossible. And on top of that a house takes several months to up to a year to sell, by which time the suspension would be over. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/147 "2013-06-27T17:48:20Z")
Most people with a crappy job don’t own the place they live, they rent. That makes moving a lot simpler. You do not have to buy a house. If you lose the ability to drive, you might want to look into renting an apartment with easy access to services instead. Yeah, yeah, you live in a town 100 miles from the nearest store, and you have to drive uphill in the snow both ways, and there are no apartments. Well, why are you living there, if nobody else lives there? You can’t live out in the middle of nowhere with no car. That’s the fact. You don’t like it, then your choices are to move, or to not lose your ability to drive. Of course there are people who live in the middle of nowhere. Those people drive. You can’t drive, you’re gonna have to either move, or have a source of income that doesn’t require you to leave the house, like retirement or disability or living with family. No third option. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/148 "2013-06-27T21:47:22Z")
> [@And\_his\_buzzer\_goes](#): > > I’m genuinely curious : can someone point me to a google maps/streetview of such a suburban car-only area ? Here’s the [public transit maps for my county](http://www.cctaride.org/). There are over 150,000 people who live here in a 620 square mile area. Those are the only bus routes, and it is the most comprehensive public transit system in the state. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/149 "2013-06-27T21:48:23Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Communities also make choices. No community is inherently unservable by transportation. China is full of areas as vast and remote as anything we can come up with, and most of those are served by fairly reliable trains and busses. But we’ve chosen not to invest in transit, and indeed we’ve built communities to be actively hostile towards transit (for example, by placing schools and shopping at the far edges of housing developments, rather than in the walkable center.) We can choose to change that if we like, but so far it doesn’t seem to be a priority. So, if I need public transit but don’t have it, it’s my own fault for not moving to China, since I choose to stay in a country that doesn’t fund the transit I should have known I would need? Again, I think you’re viewing the issue from a narrow position of un-recognized privilege. You have the power/option of moving to a transit-supported location. _Not every person can do that_. Here’s a report that says [45% of American households lack access to any public transportation](http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/transit/). Are they all just people who make poor choices? Should they all vacate their towns? Viewing those 150 million people as folks who made the choice to live in car-dependent areas is useless. The answer to the OP is that, if a person gets their license suspended and they are one of these 45% of households with no access to transit (or any other number of millions whose public transit options won’t get them to work and back) and don’t have a robust and reliable support network, they keep driving. What do you expect them to do? Quit their job, break their lease/sell their house and move, all because of a temporary suspension of driving privileges? ---
**Author:** ![matt357](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@matt357](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt357)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/150 "2013-06-27T23:19:17Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > So, if I need public transit but don’t have it, it’s my own fault for not moving to China, since I choose to stay in a country that doesn’t fund the transit I should have known I would need? > > Again, I think you’re viewing the issue from a narrow position of un-recognized privilege. You have the power/option of moving to a transit-supported location. _Not every person can do that_. Here’s a report that says [45% of American households lack access to any public transportation](http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/transit/). Are they all just people who make poor choices? Should they all vacate their towns? Viewing those 150 million people as folks who made the choice to live in car-dependent areas is useless. > > The answer to the OP is that, if a person gets their license suspended and they are one of these 45% of households with no access to transit (or any other number of millions whose public transit options won’t get them to work and back) and don’t have a robust and reliable support network, they keep driving. What do you expect them to do? Quit their job, break their lease/sell their house and move, all because of a temporary suspension of driving privileges? Can’t they get arrested if they just keep driving? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/151 "2013-06-27T23:37:26Z")
> [@matt357](#): > > Can’t they get arrested if they just keep driving? I think people answered that above. It depends on the state. You could get arrested in many places but you won’t go to prison for it. You could be thrown in jail and be bailed out for a nominal amount of money that is almost certainly less less than the losses you would incur if you didn’t drive if you have to drive to keep your job or home. You may just be caught in a vicious cycle that makes your suspension even longer. It hasn’t that hard to follow the traffic laws well enough to not get stopped for the 6 months to a year that a typical suspension lasts. You just drive slightly below the speed limit and stop at stop signs and don’t do anything else stupid or draw attention to yourself. As long as you do that, the biggest risk you have is someone else hitting you and getting caught that way. ---
**Author:** ![LinusK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/152 "2013-06-27T23:41:35Z")
> [@matt357](#): > > Can’t they get arrested if they just keep driving? Yes, they can and they do. Getting arrested doesn’t change anything though, except to make things worse. New suspensions, court costs, surcharges, fines, and bail to pay. It doesn’t change anything in terms of needing to drive, however. They still have to get to work, and so they keep driving. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/153 "2013-06-27T23:54:02Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > It hasn’t that hard to follow the traffic laws well enough to not get stopped for the 6 months to a year that a typical suspension lasts. You just drive slightly below the speed limit and stop at stop signs and don’t do anything else stupid or draw attention to yourself. As long as you do that, the biggest risk you have is someone else hitting you and getting caught that way. But if a tail light burns out between home and work… And don’t suspend one of those air freshener things from your rear view mirror. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/154 "2013-06-28T03:32:14Z")
Again, what happens to people when they go to jail? How do they keep their job? How do they pay their mortgage? In most cases, they don’t. You can easily lose everything. That’s one of the things that sucks about getting locked up. And that’s why our parents tell us not to do drugs or start fights. Losing your license isn’t usually as restricting as going to jail, but for some people it can be. That’s why it is a bad idea to lose your license. Nobody wants anyone to lose their job or whatever, but the alternative of having habitual drunk drivers on the road is worse. ---
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/155 "2013-06-28T04:56:48Z")
> [@matt357](#): > > I find it hard to believe the government wants to make it almost impossible for some people to get to work, so they lose their jobs for being late or not being able to go, and then turn to crime. I can’t believe the government wants to put people in jail, where the government becomes responsible for their health and care. Feeding and sheltering someone is incredibly expensive, let alone covering their medical care. It isn’t about the government wanting it to happen. The government specifically wants it NOT to happen. They don’t want to suspend your license. They want the threat of having your license suspended to encourage you to comply with whatever it is they’re trying to get you to comply with. Pay your fines, keep your insurance, drive within 10mph of the speed limit, don’t drive when you’ve been drinking. Because failure to comply could have results that will seriously mess up your life. ---
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/156 "2013-06-28T05:07:22Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > The answer to the OP is that, if a person gets their license suspended and they are one of these 45% of households with no access to transit (or any other number of millions whose public transit options won’t get them to work and back) and don’t have a robust and reliable support network, they keep driving. What do you expect them to do? Quit their job, break their lease/sell their house and move, all because of a temporary suspension of driving privileges? Walking and riding a bike do not require a “robust and reliable support network”. Those are alternatives you seem to have discounted. I will grant much of your point, however. Did I mention my five convictions for driving on a suspended license? Yes, many people simply continue to drive. Relating to the officer above, in my experience if you get stopped before you received notice that you are suspended, or even if that notice was sent in the mail so there is no proof you got it, those charges will be dismissed when you go to court. But when the officer cites you, he also has you sign a form saying you’ve been told your license was suspended, so if you get stopped again before you get it reinstated, … And if you scrape together the money to pay off whatever you need to get your license back before court, the judge may be lenient with you, and let you off with a large fine. And if you can’t pay that fine, you are back on that merry-go-round, albeit on a different horse. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/157 "2013-06-28T05:25:44Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > It hasn’t that hard to follow the traffic laws well enough to not get stopped for the 6 months to a year that a typical suspension lasts. Exactly. Generally speaking, a cop is not going to be able to pull you over simply because you’re driving on a suspended license – if your car / license plate, or, for that matter, your **face** warrants enough attention that they’ll pull you over just for being on the road, then you have bigger problems than a suspended driver’s license. If you get arrested for driving on a suspended license, it’s very likely that the arrest was triggered by you doing something else worthy of a cop’s attention. So, yes, the practical answer is “yes, you **can** be arrested, but if you drive cautiously, you can probably minimize that risk”. Or, at least, it seems that this is what many who drive on a suspended license believe. > [@matt357](#): > > I find it hard to believe the government wants to make it almost impossible for some people to get to work, so they lose their jobs for being late or not being able to go, and then turn to crime. Well, no, what the government **wants** is for people to not drive in a way that will lead to a suspended license. Driving is a privilege, not a right, even though losing that privilege may be extremely painful and difficult for some people. ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/158 "2013-06-28T07:08:19Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > It certainly doesn’t give me moral permission to break the law simply because I chose not to plan for an alternative in case I run into one of the many situations (age, disability, legal issues, financial troubles, gas prices…in my case, I have vision problems that could become worse) that driving becomes unviable. I really don’t see where morality plays into this at all. Law and morality are two separate things which occasionally overlap but not always. In fact, in extreme cases disobeying the law is the moral choice. The case of driving without permission is simply a risk assessment deal. You have a clearly spelled out prohibition and a clearly spelled out penalty and each person has to decide how much risk they’re willing to take. I’m sure there probably is some such belief system where driving without permission is a moral failing but I’m not aware of which one it is. I have no problem at all with someone driving under these circumstances as long as they don’t whine when the hammer falls and they have to pay up their end of the bargain. > [@](#): > > Communities also make choices. No community is inherently unservable by transportation. China is full of areas as vast and remote as anything we can come up with, and most of those are served by fairly reliable trains and busses. But we’ve chosen not to invest in transit, and indeed we’ve built communities to be actively hostile towards transit (for example, by placing schools and shopping at the far edges of housing developments, rather than in the walkable center.) We can choose to change that if we like, but so far it doesn’t seem to be a priority. While I agree with this 100% it doesn’t really seem relevant to a discussion about an individual’s choices. Are you suggesting that people with suspended licenses should work actively to revamp their communities zoning decisions? It would seem that by this time that would be too little too late. ---
**Author:** ![And\_his\_buzzer\_goes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/and_his_buzzer_goes/32/377_2.png) [@And\_his\_buzzer\_goes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/And_his_buzzer_goes)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/159 "2013-06-28T08:03:12Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Sure. Here is one of many that I know of. Keep in mind that the whole subdivision has a fence around it so you can’t even take shortcuts through fields even if there was somewhere nearby to buy food or anything else. > > [Google Maps](https://maps.google.com/maps?q=5+fox+hollow+ln,+Melissa,+TX&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x864c6d7d4993f929:0x5ef90e797411cee9,5+Fox+Hollow+Ln,+Melissa,+TX+75454&gl=us&ei=ymHMUcL7MKr64AONu4HgBw&ved=0CDAQ8gEwAA) Thanks for that, it makes it a lot easier to visualize. It doesn’t seem too bad on a bicycle to get to Melissa centre which I assume has some convenience/grocery stores - depending on the max speed of the cars. But not inviting to do so… ---
**Author:** ![matt357](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@matt357](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt357)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/160 "2013-06-28T21:07:46Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Exactly. Generally speaking, a cop is not going to be able to pull you over simply because you’re driving on a suspended license – if your car / license plate, or, for that matter, your **face** warrants enough attention that they’ll pull you over just for being on the road, then you have bigger problems than a suspended driver’s license. If you get arrested for driving on a suspended license, it’s very likely that the arrest was triggered by you doing something else worthy of a cop’s attention. > > So, yes, the practical answer is “yes, you **can** be arrested, but if you drive cautiously, you can probably minimize that risk”. Or, at least, it seems that this is what many who drive on a suspended license believe. Not really, you could get into a fender bender, the police come and find out you have a suspended license, then arrest you. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545/161 "2013-06-28T21:48:27Z")
> [@matt357](#): > > Not really, you could get into a fender bender, the police come and find out you have a suspended license, then arrest you. I ran into someone like this. Literally. The moron had a suspended license and no insurance. He pulled out of a driveway right in front of me clearly not looking. It was quite amusing to listen to the cop chew him out. I don’t know if he got arrested, but I do know he was not allowed to drive his car, which was still drivable since I was able to slow enough not to kill him, back home. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-with-suspended-drivers-license-get-food/661545.md?page=9)