Felony for Driving on Suspended? Opinions

[pencero]

What are your older guys opinions on states handing out Felony convictions for Drive on Suspended / Drive on Revoked; even when the perpetrator did not have previous convictions for a deadly accident or DUI since those are obviously extenuating factors. With the election year coming up this will be a huge 'issue' in the news soon anyway. I was wondering if any of you guys knew of existing campaigns to petition states to keep driving offenses misdemeanors. I disagree in principle with otherwise 'good' citizens in respectable standing having to overcome the difficulties associated with a felony conviction, mainly the right to continue voting. I believe states handing out felonies for driving offenses is a conflict of interest for election results. I suspect if we brought up a list of names with everyone convicted of felony driving offenses we would find a lot of Gonzales and Rodriguez than Smith's on that list. These states are clearly accelerating their driver's offense laws to felony level to speed up the deportation of immigrants.

If we allow states to hand out felony convictions for a driving offense how many college students are we damning to the lower income bracket for life?

 

[pontiacgp]

what states are you talking about?

 

[darbysan]

Just my 2 cents worth. If you are driving on a suspended license, your insurance ( if you actually have any) wont cover you in an accident. You are putting other lives ( both literally and financially) at risk should something happen. Should a bad accident happen, many folks can get hurt or killed. You are also not only breaking a law, but also disregarding the court action that suspended the license in the first place. Driving is a privilege, not a right. If someone chooses to break the law (any law), then they have to be willing to take the consequences of their actions. If you don't want a felony , just don't drive until the the license is renewed. Easy.

 

[rustyroger]

Over here a mandatory condition of insurance is having a valid drivers license for the vehicle.
IMO driving without insurance should be a felony. Never mind whether your license is suspended or you haven't paid for insurance, you aren't covered and have no right to be driving.

Roger.

 

[pencero]

Lots of states are doing it now. To people who didn't have felonies already... They don't even see it coming :!:

 

[shanghaismith]

That is just what we need in the Land Of The Free, more laws. There are so many laws in the US that NOBODY knows how many there are.

 

[rustyroger]

The only person who ever lived in the Land Of The Free was Robinson Crusoe, and he is a fictional character.
I believe insurance is mandatory in all states now?. If so then we don't have a new law, just the penalties for transgressing it have changed.

Roger.

 

[shanghaismith]

The only person who ever lived in the Land Of The Free was Robinson Crusoe, and he is a fictional character.
I believe insurance is mandatory in all states now?. If so then we don't have a new law, just the penalties for transgressing it have changed.

Roger.

I'm glad to see that someone has a similar view of the "land of the free" I think the OP was commenting on the penalty for driving with a suspended license, not insurance. Making driving with a suspended license a felony, IMO, is overkill.

 

[darbysan]

I think the OP was commenting on the penalty for driving with a suspended license, not insurance. Making driving with a suspended license a felony, IMO, is overkill.

If your driving on a suspended license, you are in fact driving without insurance as well, as the insurance company will use that as a reason to deny coverage if you are in a an accident. That is the reason that the penalty is so high, as you are putting other citizens at risk.

 

[shanghaismith]

It seems that most people are quite content to have the government up their *ss or in their pockets in every aspect of their lives.