Can I drive without my license?

[nile455]

Hear me out, it's a strange dilemma. Earlier today I lost my wallet (I believe it might have been stolen). I spent a good three hours searching for it, and then called all around everywhere I could think of. It's gone.

I live alone and don't really have a way of getting to work. I literally have no cash on me. My question is, say I drive to the driver's license office on Monday to get a replacement but heaven for bid get stopped on the way there by a highway patrol (never know with my luck). What happens? Do I get arrested because I was driving without a license? And what happens if I make it there unscathed but learn that it takes a week or two to receive a replacement?

 

[JEmaryland]

I was stopped for rolling through a stop sign literally right outside my house, and forgot my wallet at home. They let me off with a warning for the stop sign and I was given a $40 ticket for the license. They just look your name up in the computer.

 

[creativeamanda]

Hear me out, it's a strange dilemma. Earlier today I lost my wallet (I believe it might have been stolen). I spent a good three hours searching for it, and then called all around everywhere I could think of. It's gone.

I live alone and don't really have a way of getting to work. I literally have no cash on me. My question is, say I drive to the driver's license office on Monday to get a replacement but heaven for bid get stopped on the way there by a highway patrol (never know with my luck). What happens? Do I get arrested because I was driving without a license? And what happens if I make it there unscathed but learn that it takes a week or two to receive a replacement?

I should say you would give all of your information and would be ticketed for not having the license on you. I doubt you would go to jail on the spot. I say this because a person who knew all of my statistics got two tickets in my name and I had to go through h-e-double hockey sticks to get the tickets dropped. This happened in 2 separate states--once in Kershaw County, South Carolina; and once in Columbus County, North Carolina.

In North Carolina it takes up to 20 days to get your license. We are given a temporary driving card to put in our wallets. Just went through that. Make sure you call the bank and report your credit cards/etc stolen. Also, call the DMV (these should be a number online) and report your license stolen. Ask them what you can do, while you are at it.

 

[Imzadi]

You may be handed a ticket in which you have to appear in court to produce the license. Once you do, the ticket is dismissed. Or you may be fined for not having the license on you at the time the officer asked you for your license. There is a difference in not having a license (to show them) and not being licensed to legally drive.

Unless you have a dead body in the trunk, or some other cause for them to do a car search, (and they find something) you shouldn't be arrested and taken to jail.

 

[MM27]

In NJ you get a hefty ticket for failure to produce license, registration or insurance during motor vehicle stops. You can go to court and have the fines reduced if you present the info there, but there is still a fine.

 

[luvmy3]

There must be some kind of exception when your wallet gets stolen and your license is with it. I would check the rules for your state.

 

[ZPT1022]

Obviously at some point you will have to get to the DMV to get a replacement but that would be the first and only place I went if I were you.

A few years ago my cousin got married. Her brother was in the wedding party and had gotten ready with everyone. Everyone's stuff got jumbled together and they just loaded all the bags and stuff into cars and figured they would just sort it out back at my aunt and uncle's house. No big deal right? Well, the brother got pulled over for some minor infraction- I want to say one rear light out- and wound up getting a ticket for not having his license on him. Turns out that it was in one of the bags in his sister's car. He tried to flag them since he was following behind them but they were oblivious and kept driving. I think he went to court with the license, told them what had happened and either got it reduced or dismissed but yes, it was a problem

 

[Imzadi]

OP, bring some other forms of ID with you even if it's a utility bill, cancelled check (for signature match) or any picture ID you might have, even a student ID or membership ID somewhere. This way, when stopped, the police will have some proof you are who you say you are and have verification of a local address.

Also, check online for the DMV for FL. You may be able to apply for a replacement license online. It will probably tell you what ID you need to bring in to get a replacement in person. When you go to the DMV office, most likely they will issue you a temporary license card with no picture. It will say it's a temp card. Meanwhile, they will mail you the permanent picture replacement license.

 

[RitaZ.]

Call your local police department and report the license as lost or stolen. Ask for advice on how to proceed. They will probably file a police report. When you go to renew your license, the DMV may not charge you a replacement fee if you have a police report.

 

[RitaZ.]

I found this: http://www.flhsmv.gov/ddl/replace.html

 

[Tiggerlover91]

There must be some kind of exception when your wallet gets stolen and your license is with it. I would check the rules for your state.

When my wallet was stolen the officer who came to take the report gave me a copy of it so if I got pulled over I wouldn't get a ticket. I had about 3 days to get a new license, but it helped.

 

[DISNEY1975]

Here in MA you can apply for a duplicate license online at the RMV website. I think the cost is 15 - 20 dollars. When you complete the form, you can print out a page that says you have applied for a dup. You need to carry that paper with you until your license comes in the mail.

 

[DawnCt1]

There must be some kind of exception when your wallet gets stolen and your license is with it. I would check the rules for your state.

In Ct. you have 24 hours to produce your license. Of course the DMV is closed on Sunday and Monday so I would think that would be an extenuating circumstance.

 

[Carly_Roach]

The first thing they do when they pull you over is run your plate. If you have no outstanding warrants or tickets, then it's up to the officer at the scene to decide how to handle a missing license. If the person is clean and explains that their license is missing or stolen (it happens fairly frequently), then SOP is for the officer to cite you, you go to the DMV (or SOS in Michigan) and get a paper copy while you're waiting for your replacement card, then you have to present that at the police station or courthouse to demonstrate that you are a licensed driver.

To the best of my knowledge, Michigan doesn't fine people for forgetfulness or theft of a wallet. Most of the stories I've heard are about women who've changed purses and forgot to put their wallet in the new purse, or people in wedding parties like someone mentioned above. Sometimes it's people who are in their bathrobes driving husbands or wives to work and didn't bring their wallets or purses. Cops see just about everything on their tours, you know.

What the OP is describing is routine, though. Most people who've forgotten their license never get pulled over in the first place. Just follow the rules of the road (don't roll through stop signs!) or have anything ticketable happening with your car and you should be fine on your way to the DMV. Officers would only be suspicious if you had a past DUI, an outstanding warrant or other reported occasions of "missing license".

 

[NatashaDisneyCM]

Hear me out, it's a strange dilemma. Earlier today I lost my wallet (I believe it might have been stolen). I spent a good three hours searching for it, and then called all around everywhere I could think of. It's gone.

I live alone and don't really have a way of getting to work. I literally have no cash on me. My question is, say I drive to the driver's license office on Monday to get a replacement but heaven for bid get stopped on the way there by a highway patrol (never know with my luck). What happens? Do I get arrested because I was driving without a license? And what happens if I make it there unscathed but learn that it takes a week or two to receive a replacement?

if you were ever to get stopped you just let them know you lost your wallet, because they do a check on you anyways. so they will know if your license is valid.

I hear it 24/7 on my scanner, I was surprised to hear a lot of people drive without one! just get a duplicate as soon as you can.

but you may need one for Credit cards etc...

 

[paintnolish]

You may be handed a ticket in which you have to appear in court to produce the license. Once you do, the ticket is dismissed. Or you may be fined for not having the license on you at the time the officer asked you for your license. There is a difference in not having a license (to show them) and not being licensed to legally drive.

Unless you have a dead body in the trunk, or some other cause for them to do a car search, (and they find something) you shouldn't be arrested and taken to jail.

This happened to me...I was just back from WDW and forgot to switch it back to my regular purse. On the way to get dd from preschool, too! Grr!

 

[Piecey]

Here you can still drive as long as you know your license #.

I lost mine somewhere or another and called the DMV. I didn't have the proper paperwork to get it reissued yet so she told me if I knew my number I could still drive and to try to carry as much alternate ID as possible.

So I carried my passport.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

I have no advice to add other than BTDT, and it was the longest drive of my life to get to the DMV! I was so cautious I would have drawn attention to myself.

My DMV issues the DL on the spot. Do people still have to wait for them to come in the mail?

 

[Carly_Roach]

My DMV issues the DL on the spot. Do people still have to wait for them to come in the mail?

We have a plastic laminated card which takes our SOS office time to prepare. We get an official paper document that we can carry while we're waiting for the reissue to arrive in the mail. It simply makes more fiscal sense that they process those cards batch-style in one location with all the others that evening rather than having the expense of maintaining equipment at every branch to create the cards.

 

[smiley]

Statistically you have an incredibly low chance of receiving being arrested or even getting a ticket since there are several factors involved:

Your typical driving style, is it within the legal realm? How often have you been pulled over before? Why were you being stopped?

Even if you are driving in violation of the traffic laws a police officer has to be in the exact area you are at the exact time.

Let's say you do get pulled over, the officer has the discretion of how to handle the situation. More often than not they are very understanding of your misfortune.

When you factor all of this together you have statistically a very low probability of having any additional badness coming your way.

Stop worrying and drive on over to the DMV to order up a new license.