INCREASED JAIL TIME FOR ADDITIONAL DRIVING WHILE SUSPENDED CHARGES

Many drivers routinely drive while they are suspended. The drivers hope that they can beat the system. Some drivers are just desperate and they have to get to work. However, big brother is getting better and better at busting drivers who are suspended. In some of the poorer areas of New Jersey one out of every four drivers is on the suspended list. Therefore, it is really a number’s game. The more drivers that the police stop the greater the odds that they will make arrests for driving while suspended, registration charges, or for no-insurance violations.

Unfortunately, drivers get caught in the point trap or the insurance surcharge trap, and they are in a perpetual state of “driving while suspended.” It really becomes a way of life for many of our fellow New Jersean’s. In my many years of practice, my record is representing a driver with twenty driving while suspended charges. However, there are drivers out there who have had more.

The State has enacted a new law that increases the jail term for a driving while suspended term by ten days for every violation after the third. Basically, a driver will only go to jail for a third time violation of driving while suspended. A driver who is convicted or enters a plea for a third time driving while suspended must receive a mandatory ten day jail term.

The Legislature has provided additional sanctions for persons who repeatedly operate a motor vehicle while their driving privileges are suspended or revoked. In the event a driver is convicted of driving on the revoked liste for a second or subsequent offense on or after June 24, 2002, the municipal court must increase the length of the term of mandatory incarceration under certain circumstances. N.J.S.A. 39:3-40(j). The increase is only triggered when the driver is also found guilty of a moving violation that was committed while he or she was driving on the revoked list. For purposes of this sentence enhancement, a moving violation means any violation of the State’s motor vehicle laws for which points are assessed by the DMV. Accordingly, if a companion moving violation can be dismissed as part of a plea agreement or downgraded to a non-point violation then no additional jail term can be imposed.

In summary, the sentences for multiple and serial driving while suspended cases are getting tough. There are ways around these harsh sentences. However, if you are a serial violator, you better get yourself a good lawyer. N.J.S.A. 39:3-40(j) gives the court the discretion to add ten additional days of prison for every violation after the third. Moreover, the statute is written in a mandatory fashion. Therefore, the court is not give wide discretion in their sentencing authority.