Title: June 20, 2007
Q. I just found out that I lost my driver’s license after I failed to show up in Court for a traffic citation I received for failing to wear my seatbelt. I have to drive my kids to school and to go to work everyday. I don’t have a chauffeur to drive me around. It is OK if I still drive?
A. Unless you can’t afford to be treated like Paris Hilton, and go to jail for 35 days (or however long she was ordered to serve in jail), that is what will happen to you if you keep driving without a driver’s license. You need to take care of the traffic citation first, pay the fine and re-instate your driver’s license. The only way you can re-instate your driver’s license is if you go to Court at 8:00 AM (whichever Courthouse you were scheduled to appear in) tell the clerk at the desk that you want to take care of the old traffic citation. You will have to plead guilty, not guilty or no contest. If you plead not guilty and want a trial, you will have to post bail before you can get a trial date, because you already failed to appear once. So the Court will not trust you again and will require posting bail. When you show up at your trial, you will get your money back if you are found not guilty. If you are found guilty, you have already posted bail, which is usually the amount of the fine. If you pled no contest at the arraignment, you will be given a fine which you will have to pay. At that point, you can request that the DMV reinstate your driver’s license.
Q. I went on a trip to Europe two months ago. The airline I traveled with lost my luggage. I found myself in Madrid without a single item of clothing or shoes, or my toothbrush for that matter. I made a complaint to the airline company, but to this day, I have yet to receive my suitcase. I had some really nice clothes in my bag and jewelry that was worth quite a bit of money. What can I do?
A. Make sure that you document the items contained in your suitcase, as well as their approximate value. Find out the name of the President of the airline company, his/her address and write a certified letter of complaint to the president. I find that if writing to a lowly employee of the company does not work, I go to the head of the company. Such action always brings swift results. Try that and see if it works. I hope you still have your ticket. Explanations on how to make a claim for lost luggage should be printed on the back of the ticket. You can also go on the airline company’s website for additional information.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 14 years of experience. She practices law from her Tehachapi office as well as her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers to the best of her abilities. Email your questions to maxinedev@msn.com or fax to (661)825-8880
Showing posts with label pay fine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pay fine. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Legal Eaze #32 Speeding Misdemeanor/ Unwanted Magazines
Title: October 12, 2005
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her new office in town, as well her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities. Please forward your questions to maxinedev@msn.com or fax them to (661)825-8880.
Q. I drive a truck for a living, and I drive all over United States. I have a commercial driver’s license. I was driving my own car and was caught speeding on the 58 just past Mojave. The citation mentions that I was driving at 67 miles per hour. Is this a misdemeanor or just an infraction? I am very concerned that my commercial driver’s license will be affected and will not be able to drive a truck anymore.
A. I you were driving no faster than 15 miles per hour over the posted speed limit, if should be only an infraction. If the posted speed limit was 55 mph, it is an infraction. However, I am surprised that you would be pulled over going at 67 mph, unless the officer considered it unsafe to drive at that speed. There has been ongoing construction on Highway 58 and speeds are reduced in construction zones. If you pay the fine on the fraction within the time limit, it should not affect your commercial driver’s license.
Q. I keep receiving books, magazines and other goodies by mail which I never ordered. I also receive invoices for these books, magazines and goodies. I have returned most of them, but sometimes by error I open the package, then I don’t know what to do. Do I have to pay for the return shipping on this stuff? Ord do I have to pay the invoices?
A. You have failed to tell me whether you live alone or not. If you have children living with you, how do you know that one of them did not order these books and/or magazines? If you live alone and are absolutely sure that you did not place any orders for books and/or magazines, just return them unopened. Mark “Return to Sender” on the front of the package and put them back in the mail. If the books keep coming even after you have returned one or two, just keep them and explain that you did not order the books and magazines or goodies and will not pay their invoice nor their return shipping charges. You can write that right on the invoice and return the invoice to the company that sent it to you..
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her new office in town, as well her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities. Please forward your questions to maxinedev@msn.com or fax them to (661)825-8880.
Q. I drive a truck for a living, and I drive all over United States. I have a commercial driver’s license. I was driving my own car and was caught speeding on the 58 just past Mojave. The citation mentions that I was driving at 67 miles per hour. Is this a misdemeanor or just an infraction? I am very concerned that my commercial driver’s license will be affected and will not be able to drive a truck anymore.
A. I you were driving no faster than 15 miles per hour over the posted speed limit, if should be only an infraction. If the posted speed limit was 55 mph, it is an infraction. However, I am surprised that you would be pulled over going at 67 mph, unless the officer considered it unsafe to drive at that speed. There has been ongoing construction on Highway 58 and speeds are reduced in construction zones. If you pay the fine on the fraction within the time limit, it should not affect your commercial driver’s license.
Q. I keep receiving books, magazines and other goodies by mail which I never ordered. I also receive invoices for these books, magazines and goodies. I have returned most of them, but sometimes by error I open the package, then I don’t know what to do. Do I have to pay for the return shipping on this stuff? Ord do I have to pay the invoices?
A. You have failed to tell me whether you live alone or not. If you have children living with you, how do you know that one of them did not order these books and/or magazines? If you live alone and are absolutely sure that you did not place any orders for books and/or magazines, just return them unopened. Mark “Return to Sender” on the front of the package and put them back in the mail. If the books keep coming even after you have returned one or two, just keep them and explain that you did not order the books and magazines or goodies and will not pay their invoice nor their return shipping charges. You can write that right on the invoice and return the invoice to the company that sent it to you..
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