This is probably the main myth that I hear about driving on suspended cases. People say, “I was told that if I get my license fixed, the case will be dropped.”
That’s just simply wrong.
The charge you’re facing is that your license was in fact suspended on the day you received the ticket. Just because you get it fixed before court doesn’t make you innocent.
However, fixing your license between the date of the ticket and going to court can definitely help with the outcome at court. If you are found guilty of driving on suspended in Virginia, the court has to suspend your license for an additional period of time. The law requires it. However, in many courts, if your license is fixed when you come to court, the new license suspension would just be something like three days instead of 90 days. If your license is fixed at trial, you might only be suspended for three days, but if your license is still not fixed, you might be considered for another three months.
Fixing your license doesn’t just make the case go away or force the Commonwealth to drop the case. Some prosecutors might give you a little extra leniency if your license is completely fixed. We might be able to get the charge reduced to a lesser offense, such as not having your license in your possession. But that’s actually pretty rare. The more common scenario is that it simply is taken into account on the driving on suspended disposition.
Fixing your license is critical but it does not make the case go away.
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