Q: I am 17 years old. Last year, 13 months ago I got a ticket for Leaving the scene of the accident. I got court supervisio

A: Hello Asker,

First, you have to be very careful about your license. At your age, you are at SERIOUS risk of suspension. The bar is EXTREMELY low. Two convictions for points eligible offenses within 24 months will suspend you (points eligible offenses are known colloquially as moving violations though that term is misleading since some offenses that sound like moving violations aren't and some that don't are).

That said, here's the breakdown. Right now, you have successfully terminated your first court supervision UNLESS you had a supervision period so long as the seat belt ticket fell outside the supervision period. Once terminated successfully, court supervisions are not eligible for resentencing. That means you have only received 2 tickets which could be convictions. Of those, one of which, the seat belt ticket, may not be a moving violation. It is unclear as the statute upon which it holds authority no longer is on the books yet it is a points eligible offense but it would seem to appear to not be a moving violation. It does however have implications for your license though as it can delay issuance of a license as much as 9 months for a conviction for this offense. The unlawful passengers ticket is a 10 point violation and it is a moving violation.

My recommendation would be to contact a traffic attorney who can contact the secretary of state to verify whether the seatbelt offense constituted a moving violation because truth be told, if it did, you will VERY likely be suspended because it is likely court supervision for that ticket was denied. It is unfortunately not entirely clear based upon a reading of the statutes whether it counts so we would have to contact the secretary of state to see what their opinion on the matter is since their opinion matters most.

There are options to prevent a suspension if there is one incoming. Taking action such as filing a motion to vacate can prevent and even reverse the suspension resulting in no fees owed to the secretary of state for reinstatement. That said, you will want to contact someone VERY soon because motions to vacate require the prosecutor's presence and some cases have prosecutors appearing as rarely as once a month. The sooner you contact an attorney, the sooner you can assure your case is heard quickly enough to prevent any potential suspension.

Sincerely,

Jason A. Wilkins

Attorney at Law

(630) 445-2293