I need Help with recent DWP

[AmberDeahn]

On 11/03/04 I recieved a no insurance ticket in the state of Idaho. I paid the ticket & went & got insurance on my vehicle. I was then told that everything was taken care of. However, Last night, I was pulled over for not using my blinker when pulling away from the curb in front of my home. Not worried, I handed the officer all my info. After what seemed like an eternity, he came back & told me that my licence had been suspended. Obviosly confused, I called the Dept. of Trans. & the women informed me that all I would have need to do was get sr22 insurance & pay a $65 reinstatement fee Which should have been in the letter they had sent out. After a great deal of going through everything we discovered that that particular letter had been sent to the wrong address.
The advise given to me was, to get the insurance & pay the reinstatement fee & when I go into court for the DWP ticket to take all of that info & explain the situation to the Judge & basically pray that he is in a giving mood that day. So to speak...
Was this good advise?
Is there anything more I can do to help my situation?
I am asking because this will be the second ticket in my whole driving career & I have to have the use of my car Due to 2 very major factors.......
1) An 8 month old daughter
2) Husbands unit has been deployed

Thanx
Amber Deahn

 

[mike]

On 11/03/04 I recieved a no insurance ticket in the state of Idaho. I paid the ticket & went & got insurance on my vehicle. I was then told that everything was taken care of. However, Last night, I was pulled over for not using my blinker when pulling away from the curb in front of my home. Not worried, I handed the officer all my info. After what seemed like an eternity, he came back & told me that my licence had been suspended. Obviosly confused, I called the Dept. of Trans. & the women informed me that all I would have need to do was get sr22 insurance & pay a $65 reinstatement fee Which should have been in the letter they had sent out. After a great deal of going through everything we discovered that that particular letter had been sent to the wrong address.
The advise given to me was, to get the insurance & pay the reinstatement fee & when I go into court for the DWP ticket to take all of that info & explain the situation to the Judge & basically pray that he is in a giving mood that day. So to speak...
Was this good advise?
Is there anything more I can do to help my situation?
I am asking because this will be the second ticket in my whole driving career & I have to have the use of my car Due to 2 very major factors.......
1) An 8 month old daughter
2) Husbands unit has been deployed

While prayer for a good outcome never hurts, it might be better if you have a good story about what happened. I would plead not guilty first. It gives the judge more options if the judge decides to find you guilty and impose a very light penalty. First, why was the letter sent to the wrong address? A failure to update the address on your driver's license may not be defensible, although it might be more explainable if you have just moved. Second, you may be able to speak to the prosecutor before going in front of the judge. He may be sympathetic and you can explain that you DID go into court to take care of the ticket and would have paid the fine for reinstatement of your license immediately if this was made known to you and you are surprised that it wasn't. Just make sure that you understand the process as to what should have happened but didn't.

I don't think it is ever a good idea to simply throw yourself on the mercy of the court and explain that you have a daughter, etc. With regard to the second item you might work that in only if somehow relevant. Remember also that you are appearing in front of a whole group of people too... everyone has a tough story and many officials have heard this so often to make themselves feel ill. Asking for arbitrary favoritism is not a great strategy. Keep your eyes and ears open and see what the responses are... good luck to you.