If you are driving on a suspended or revoked Driver’s License, a new decision from the United States Supreme Court may increase your chances of getting caught and arrested. This is another reason to get a hardship driver’s license.
In the case of Kansas v. Glover, the highest court in the United States ruled that police officers may stop vehicles for no reason other than the registered owner’s license being suspended, without knowing who is actually driving. This means that without any motor vehicle violation or any other justification, the police are allowed to stop a vehicle to see who is driving if the vehicle’s owner’s license is suspended.
Police in Massachusetts are equipped with cruiser laptops and automatic license plate recognition. When the registered owner of a vehicle has a suspended or revoked license, the police will receive an alert via the cruiser laptop. The Supreme Court has ruled that this alert alone is sufficient justification for a motor vehicle stop. The Court ruled that it is reasonable to assume that the owner is the operator and this is a “common sense inference.” The Court recognized that the owner is not always the operator. However, the likelihood is strong enough to allow the police to stop the vehicle to see who is behind the wheel.
Being arrested for operating after suspension can have severe consequences such as fines, potential jail time, new license suspensions, a more difficult time obtaining a hardship license, a potential 4-year habitual traffic offender revocation, and the revocation of the vehicle’s registration.
One of the best ways to avoid all of these consequences is to obtain a hardship license. This type of license allows a person to legally drive if his or her license has been suspended by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. Don’t risk arrest and prosecution for driving while suspended, when you may be able to get your license back and drive legally, without having to fear being arrested and charged with operating after suspension.