Q: My son was pulled over for no insurance. $2000.00 fine in IL. When we went to court, we had insurance, but it's lapsed.
He was required to get a SR22 (but didn't) will his license be suspended? Or can we just pay the fine and be done with it?
A:
First, let me break down what is happening here. Your son had a lapse in insurance and thus it was not valid on the date of the offense. This means that he will, no matter what happens, be needing to pay a fine unless he is very lucky and a cop doesn't appear in court (very unlikely). The $2000 fine is what is known as the individual bond amount and is ordinarily written on the ticket. This is the "bond" he posted when he was given the ticket ensuring that he would return. This is done through signing it and agreeing to return to court. Failure to appear in court on your scheduled date WILL result in a bond forfeiture judgment against you and you will be fined $2000 as you forfeited it by not appearing. This is the fine you are most likely thinking of. The actual fine on the ticket imposed by the court will ordinarily be much lower (under $1,000). The best way to determine exactly how much you owe is to call the clerk of the county where the ticket was issued and ask how much you owe but I can assure you if he got supervision, the fine was less than $2000.
His SR-22 does create an issue. According to state law, he must hold SR-22 for 36 continuous months if he receives either three convictions for operating an uninsured motor vehicle or receives supervision for doing so. SR-22 is a special insurance that reports back the the secretary of state that a policy is active. If the policy lapses, he WILL be suspended on the spot until it is resolved. If this is the case, he MUST NOT drive. The penalties are very stiff and very bad for your record.
Lastly, you cannot pay any fine in particular to just make an SR-22 obligation disappear. The only possible way to get around such a requirement is to change your supervision to a conviction which will lift the requirement but also suspend your license for around 3-6 months after which no SR-22 will be required if you didn't have two prior convictions.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions!
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