While learning how to drive and driving is a legal right, it is also a responsibility.
Too often, the roads are plagued by reckless and negligent drivers who cause as much as 6 million car accidents in the United States yearly.
So, in order to remind these errant motorists about their duty of diligence when operating a motor vehicle, there various driving laws and penalties are imposed by the government to ensure peace and order in the community.
While California’s car accident fatalities statistics has reached its lowest in 2007 since 1946, the numbers are still considerable. To help enforce traffic rules and regulations and to act as a deterrent against negligent drivers, aside from imposition of fines, driving bans and other suspension are imposed against a convicted driver.
As either the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) or the court can divest you of your driving privileges if you’re convicted of traffic offenses, here is an overview of driving laws you’re supposed to follow as well as their corresponding penalties (which may range from payment of fines to revocation or suspension of your license).
• The Negligent Operator Treatment System (NOTS) – If you accumulate too many points (for infractions and traffic convictions) in your record and within a certain period of time, your driver license may get your revoked or suspended. Negligent operator points are added to your record if you contributed, were at fault, or responsible in any amount for the collision.
• Failure to Pay Fine or Show Up in Court after Accident – Under the law, once a driver is issued or receives a traffic ticket, he is required to pay the fine or show up in court. Otherwise, his driving privilege will be suspended until the fine is paid or he appears in court.
• Lack of Proof of Financial Responsibility after an Accident – Your license will be suspended for 1 year if you fail to produce your proof of financial responsibility after an accident.
• Driving Under the Influence – If you were arrested and convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol (having a blood alcohol content of .08 percent and above), the penalties would depend on how many times you’ve been convicted. In your first conviction, you will likely spend six months in jail and pay a fine between $390 and $1,000. Also, your license will be suspended for six months and require you to complete a DUI program before you can be reinstated.
• Zero Tolerance Law – Drivers under 21 years old, if proven to have driven under the influence of alcohol, even as low as .01 percent, can have their license suspended for a year. Remember that if you also refuse a breath test, your license may also be suspended.
Take note that your license may be entirely revoked if you knowingly committed severe, flagrant, aggravated, and reckless driving acts such as the following:
• Excessive speeding on crowded roads during peak traffic hours
• Evasion of law enforcement
• DUI combined with reckless driving acts
• Racing
• Reckless operation of the vehicle without a license
• Flagrant disregard of traffic laws, signals and signs
But the suspension and revocation of your driver’s license is the least of your worries, especially when you get involved in an accident. Aside from potentially injuring or killing yourself, if you cause harm to another motorist, passenger, or pedestrian, you will also be liable for compensating them for their injuries.
