Reader’s Question:

My driver’s license was suspended because of a DUI charge. I wonder what will happen if I will be caught driving with a suspended license here in Trenton New Jersey? What are the consequences? Would there be any penalties?

Alvin

Trenton, NJ

If you will be caught driving in New Jersey while on a suspended driver’s license because of a DUI charge, it can have serious and inconvenient consequences. These would include a fine of $500 for the first offense. You will have a fine of $750 and jail time of up to five days for the second offense. For the third and subsequent offense, there would be a fine of $1,000 and jail time of 10 days. You will have an additional fine of $3,000 if you had unpaid surcharges. You are also facing an additional $500 fine if you don’t have an insurance, an additional license suspension of up to 2 years and jail time up to 90 days. You will have an additional jail time of 45 days if someone was injured in an accident.

For all of these offenses, you can lose your license for up to six months. After your current suspension has been served, the suspension is served consecutively.

Make sure you don’t get caught driving with a suspended license in New Jersey. Better yet, don’t drive at all with a suspended driver’s license because unfortunately, New Jersey does not issue hardship licenses or conditional licenses for drivers who have had their licenses suspended.

You hang up the phone and feel a wave of relief–you’ve just chosen the Trenton NJ DUI attorney who will handle your drunk driving conviction case. But hold on. You aren’t done yet. Hiring a lawyer isn’t like asking for forgiveness, and you certainly aren’t washing yourself clean of anything so quickly. This is a process and it requires you to be involved.

Now that you have finished your first consultation, you will need to create a new form of conversation between you and the lawyer, now as a lawyer and client instead of lawyer and potential client. Essential to this is having a set of realistic goals. So get out a piece of paper and, thinking about your case, scribble down a few goals you have for it. What exactly do you plan on accomplishing–that is, are you looking to get a jail sentence or fee reduction, do you need limited driving priveleges, and so on. You also need to create a frame in which you want this all to be done with, so that your lawyer can pace accordingly.

Communicate these goals to your Trenton NJ DUI attorney, and in fact communicate anything else related to your case. Supply your attorney with all the necessary information, and call up anytime some new piece of information arrives. Keeping up a constant conversation will keep your case from running astray.

For penny pinchers, and for those on a tight budget, hiring a Trenton NJ DUI attorney may not be the most attractive option. It isn’t absolutely necessary every single time that you hire one, so you should look at your situation on a case by case basis to see if it’s worth spending your hard earned money.

It is absolutely imperative that you hire a Trenton NJ DUI attorney if…

• you work in an area where driving is your life. You could be a pizza delivery guy or a taxi driver. You could be a business person who goes on a lot of trips. If losing your license for a long time would leave you without an income, or with a much smaller income, then you need to hire a lawyer.
• you received your DUI from an accident involving either injuries or death. If this is the case, it could go as far as having your license revoked for a long, long time to a very lengthy jail sentence
• you’re a repeat offender. If you’re going on your third DUI or (somehow) even more than that, then you need a DUI lawyer to keep you from the worst consequences.