# Tickets \[for driving without a license\] **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 27, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681 "2013-07-27T17:02:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jaysamm15](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ba0ec/32.png) [@jaysamm15](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaysamm15)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/1 "2013-07-27T17:02:51Z")
You get pulled over and taken to jail on a warrant for a charge that was dropped in court. Your taken in and written a ticket for driving without licence on person. The police never give you a ticket. What do you think would happen?? ---
**Author:** ![Buffalo\_Bilious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e99b99/32.png) [@Buffalo\_Bilious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buffalo_Bilious)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/2 "2013-07-27T18:07:21Z")
I for one would be motivated to remember to carry my drivers license. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/3 "2013-07-27T19:32:44Z")
Since the OP is asking for opinions let’s move this to IMHO. Also, thread title edited to give a vague idea of the subject (although after the reading the OP several times I’m not really sure what the question is). Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/4 "2013-07-27T23:31:40Z")
I think the question is that you are given a ticket for driving without license on person but they don’t give you a copy of the ticket, is it still a valid ticket? Do you have to pay a fine etc since they never gave it to you? I don’t know. I’m not sure if it matters but did you sign the ticket? ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/5 "2013-07-27T23:40:51Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > I think the question is that you are given a ticket for driving without license on person but they don’t give you a copy of the ticket, is it still a valid ticket? Do you have to pay a fine etc since they never gave it to you? > > I don’t know. I’m not sure if it matters but did you sign the ticket? That’s how I read it - and I’d wonder the same thing. If you signed it - it’s probably in the computer - and you’ll get a court date or however your state handles those things. If you didn’t - I doubt they will but don’t know. Do you have a license? If so - I’d get a copy of your driving record to see if it is there. In my state that is a criminal offense - and I believe it would show up there as well. ETA: oh and on rereading this - what do you mean not having it on your person? In my state if you have a valid license - but fail to display it on demand - it’s like a $50 fine and no points - you wouldn’t have much to worry about. Still I’d check my driving record to see if it is there. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/6 "2013-07-28T00:12:02Z")
Related question I’ve wondered about from time to time: Say you’re pulled over for whatever reason and then ticketed for driving without a license. What happens when this interaction is over, sit there and wait for the cop to leave? Because once you start the car up and leave, you’re driving without a license again. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/7 "2013-07-28T00:24:39Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Related question I’ve wondered about from time to time: Say you’re pulled over for whatever reason and then ticketed for driving without a license. What happens when this interaction is over, sit there and wait for the cop to leave? Because once you start the car up and leave, you’re driving without a license again. Well if you don’t HAVE a license - you are committing a crime - and I’m pretty sure you’ll be arrested and not allowed to drive away. If you don’t give them your license when you are pulled over and they ask for it - you get a ticket for - “failure to display license on demand” or something like it. Since they only demand it once - you aren’t committing a crime when you drive away. They have to have something to pull you over for - some things - like seatbelts (in maryland anyway) - they can’t. It’s not illegal in maryland to drive without the physical license. It’s illegal not to give it to them when they pull you over for something else. Therefore - even if you find it by the time they get back with the ticket - you’ve still committed the offense if you didn’t give it to them on demand. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/8 "2013-07-28T00:35:28Z")
Actually - I’m wrong - it is illegal in Maryland to both not have the license on you - or fail to display it on demand. However I’ve never heard of getting it for not having it on you (perhaps to avoid the situation I mentioned where someone then is able to produce it when the cop gets back to the car). Both carry the same fine and zero points. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/9 "2013-07-28T00:36:15Z")
> [@DataX](#): > > Well if you don’t HAVE a license - you are committing a crime - and I’m pretty sure you’ll be arrested and not allowed to drive away. If you don’t give them your license when you are pulled over and they ask for it - you get a ticket for - “failure to display license on demand” or something like it. Since they only demand it once - you aren’t committing a crime when you drive away. They have to have something to pull you over for - some things - like seatbelts (in maryland anyway) - they can’t. It’s not illegal in maryland to drive without the physical license. It’s illegal not to give it to them when they pull you over for something else. Therefore - even if you find it by the time they get back with the ticket - you’ve still committed the offense if you didn’t give it to them on demand. I’ve always heard about getting a ticket for not having a license on you but then wondered what the cop would think happen once he left. If he sees you drive off and knows you don’t have a license on you, I would think that would give him cause to pull you over again. I’m not used to carrying my license around with me over here, and once while driving in Washington last year I suddenly remembered to my horror that I’d left it behind in the hotel. (I’m not familiar with this “points” system. Don’t think they had it when I was living in the US, at least not in the states I was in.) ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/10 "2013-07-28T00:39:49Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’ve always heard about getting a ticket for not having a license but then wondered what the cop would think happen once he left. > > I’m not used to carrying my license around with me over here, and once while driving in Washington last year I suddenly remembered to my horror that I’d left it behind in the hotel. I don’t know about in other states, but in Maryland - as long as they can look it up in the computer - you should be fine. Obviously know what your address is and date of birth - and don’t look real sketchy :). I’ve only had this happen in a car registered in my name, but it was never any big deal. ETA: oh and points are mostly for insurance and a sort of running tally that can get your license suspended - 1 point for speeding this much - 2 points for this - if you get enough points you lose your license. I thought many states had them, but that was just an assumption - they’ve been around at least in Maryland for at least 20+ years. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/11 "2013-07-28T00:43:33Z")
Cops didn’t have computers back when I had a US-state license, so perhaps the law has changed since they can check that easily. Of course, you could be from out of state or even, like me last year, using an international license based on my Thai license. Then you wouldn’t be in the database … or would you? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/12 "2013-07-28T00:48:28Z")
> [@DataX](#): > > I thought many states had them, but that was just an assumption - they’ve been around at least in Maryland for at least 20+ years. It’s been longer than that since I’ve lived in the US. I think I have heard of the system though, just not sure what it entailed. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/13 "2013-07-28T00:51:00Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Cops didn’t have computers back when I had a US-state license, so perhaps the law has changed since they can check that easily. Of course, you could be from out of state or even, like me last year, using an international license based on my Thai license. Then you wouldn’t be in the database … or would you? Yeah - I wouldn’t count on them having data on your international license based on Thai stuff :). I wouldn’t do it in any state outside my own (and haven’t in years). There is something known as the Drivers License Compact that I think facilitates interstate exchange of data, but I’m not sure at what level that is done. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/14 "2013-07-28T01:44:04Z")
Do you mean driving without a license or driving without your license on you? I’ve never driven without a license but the people I know who got caught driving on a suspended or revoked license were not allowed to drive away. I can’t remember if all of them got arrested but I know of at least two who had to park the car and were taken to jail. I have been pulled over and not had my license on me and all the officer did was run it through the computer and I didn’t get a ticket or anything. He just asked me to verify the information on it and acted like it wasn’t a big deal/ I did get pulled over and was found to be driving on a (NOT) expired license and almost got a ticket for that. I had my new license, and it showed the new expiration date but a screw up at the MVA said my license was expired. The cop was going to give me a ticket but changed his mind and gave me a warning. He let me drive away but told me to get it taken care of right away. All it took was a phone call to MVA to fix it. Had he given me a ticket it would have involved a day in court. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/15 "2013-07-28T02:03:17Z")
Either one. Back when whether you had a license could not easily be checked, it was very much the law that it be in your possession while you were driving. They weren’t about to take your word for it that you really had one. But I’m curious about these days with computer checks. How do they know it’s you driving the car if you have no ID on you? I suppose your photo would come up on the screen in the cops’ car. ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/16 "2013-07-28T03:15:57Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Related question I’ve wondered about from time to time: Say you’re pulled over for whatever reason and then ticketed for driving without a license. What happens when this interaction is over, sit there and wait for the cop to leave? Because once you start the car up and leave, you’re driving without a license again. Not quite the same, but close. I was pulled over because, unbeknownst to me, my car’s registration was invalid (long irrelevant story.) The officer directed me to park at the nearest safe, legal location and call for a ride, and suggested a church lot nearby. I pointed out that my house was just a quarter mile away, and wondered aloud whether that might be a sufficiently close safe location. His response was that he couldn’t really advise me, but that, just in case I was wondering, his plan was to drive in a direction leading away from my home when he departed. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/17 "2013-07-28T05:06:51Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’ve always heard about getting a ticket for not having a license on you but then wondered what the cop would think happen once he left. If he sees you drive off and knows you don’t have a license on you, I would think that would give him cause to pull you over again. > > I’m not used to carrying my license around with me over here, and once while driving in Washington last year I suddenly remembered to my horror that I’d left it behind in the hotel. > > (I’m not familiar with this “points” system. Don’t think they had it when I was living in the US, at least not in the states I was in.) Years ago, around 1982 or 3, I got pulled over for speeding and discovered my license and my student ID were missing. I told the officer my name and DL number, and he called it in and verified that my license was current. He wrote me a ticket for speeding and one for not having my license. To avoid being hauled in, I had to pay my fines in cash on the spot. No, I didn’t pay him, he watched me put the cash in a preaddressed envelope (which he gave me) and drop it in a mailbox. He also gave me a signed (by him) form saying that I had already been ticketed for no license and that I had X number of days to produce my license. He told me to carry that until I found my license. I found my license the next day. When I showed my license at the courthouse, they refunded the fine for no license. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/18 "2013-07-28T05:32:39Z")
It’s possible the OP will have his citation mailed to him. The agency I’m on does that. You get processed (finger printed, photographed, etc) and then released, and the cite is made out later and mailed to you. The arresting officer goes back on the road after he brings you in and the booking staff does the rest. I’m not saying it’s a sure thing the OP will get the cite in the mail, I’m just saying it’s possible. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Related question I’ve wondered about from time to time: Say you’re pulled over for whatever reason and then ticketed for driving without a license. What happens when this interaction is over, sit there and wait for the cop to leave? Because once you start the car up and leave, you’re driving without a license again. If you can’t [quickly] come up with a licensed driver to drive it you can be asked to surrender your auto keys for safe keeping (yes, we know you have another set somewhere:rolleyes: ). The car can also be towed or booted. When the infraction is something like just expired registration some officers are known to end the contact with \*“Sir, this car has expired registration and cannot be driven. You’ll have to find alternate transportation. I’m going to come back through this way in about 20 minutes. If I don’t see this car I’ll assume you had it towed.” \* ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/19 "2013-07-28T15:36:30Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Either one. Back when whether you had a license could not easily be checked, it was very much the law that it be in your possession while you were driving. They weren’t about to take your word for it that you really had one. > > But I’m curious about these days with computer checks. How do they know it’s you driving the car if you have no ID on you? I suppose your photo would come up on the screen in the cops’ car. I would think that by now your picture would come up on the monitor as well as all your information. At the time it happened to me my picture probably wasn’t available so that is why the cop asked me to verify the information on my license. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681/20 "2013-07-29T14:17:57Z")
In Ohio, the law is thus; 4507.35 Duty to display license or furnish satisfactory proof of license upon demand; penalty. (A) The operator of a motor vehicle shall display the operator’s driver’s license, or furnish satisfactory proof that the operator has a driver’s license, upon demand of any peace officer or of any person damaged or injured in any collision in which the licensee may be involved. When a demand is properly made and the operator has the operator’s driver’s license on or about the operator’s person, the operator shall not refuse to display the license.\*\* A person’s failure to furnish satisfactory evidence that the person is licensed under this chapter when the person does not have the person’s license on or about the person’s person shall be prima-facie evidence of the person’s not having obtained a driver’s license.\*\* [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tickets-for-driving-without-a-license/664681.md?page=2)