If your license has been revoked in the state of Georgia, then it is safe to say that the government took it away for a good reason. Driving on a revoked license can bring upon some serious penalties if you are caught or in an accident.
If you do get into an accident while driving on a revoked license, you still may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. If this happens to you, contact an experienced Augusta, GA car wreck attorney right away.
License Revocation
Your license can become revoked for any number of reasons. It is how the state tries to keep you from driving so that you are not a danger to anyone else, or to simply punish you for other convictions.
You are considered a habitual offender when you are convicted for a third time of any combination of these offenses in a five year period:
- DUI
- Vehicular homicide
- Feticide by vehicular means
- Causing serious injuries by vehicular means
- Leaving the scene of a hit-and-run
- Racing
- The use of a vehicle in the attempt to elude an officer
- Driving a vehicle with a suspended, canceled, or revoked registration
- Committing any felony with a vehicle
Refusing to retake the examination for driving skills or knowledge of driving skills after being given reasonable grounds for the request.
You have been declared as mentally incompetent and unsafe to be in the operation of a vehicle.
If your license has been revoked, you can apply for a probationary license after two years.
Getting in An Accident While Driving on a Revoked License
If you get into a car accident and your license is revoked, this is two completely separate areas of the law. You will be able to file a claim for your injuries against the other driver if you are injured, however, you are also going to get into a lot of trouble for driving with a revoked license.
The first thing you need to do is obtain a lawyer that can help you with your car accident claim. A car accident attorney in Augusta, Georgia can handle the aspects of your accident claim, even while you are being charged for driving on a revoked license.
There is a possibility that the other driver’s insurance may try to use your license being revoked as a reason not to pay out on your injury claims. You have a better chance of collecting if the other driver is found at a high percentage of guilt.
Georgia is a modified comparative fault state. This means that in order to receive compensation in an insurance claim, you would have to be 49% or less responsible. The lower the percentage of fault you are considered, the more likely the insurance company won’t have a choice but paying.
It is possible that because of your revoked license, you will be facing jail time and fines. Your period of license revocation may be increased, and the chance of a probationary license may be taken away.
Steps After an Accident
After you get into an accident, the procedure is much like it would be if you didn’t have a revoked license. This includes documenting the scene, calling the police, exchanging the information with the other driver, and seeking medical attention if you need it.
This is possibly where the largest difference will be when reporting the accident, you will probably end up arrested if you are not severely injured. Your revoked license carries some hefty penalties and one of them is being arrested.
You need to make sure that you gather all the information about the car that you were driving if it was not your own. You will need the insurance information on the car’s policyholder to see if you were possibly covered under their policy.
It may be possible to compel the judge to hear the reason why you were driving during the time of your license being revoked. It will not diminish the charges entirely, but if the circumstances didn’t give you any choice, there could be some leniency. This may not hold up in all courts, but it is worth explaining if you had an emergency that possibly required going against the law.
Call an Augusta, GA Car Wreck Attorney if Your Accident Happened While Driving on a Revoked License
If you were injured in the car accident, you should not have to worry about everything alone. There are a lot of things that you are going to have to handle besides the claim to insurance for your injuries, you are going to have to worry about the criminal charges you face.
Let an Augusta, Georgia car wreck law firm take over the case for your insurance claim so that you don’t have to. A highly skilled attorney can compile all the evidence to get the insurance company to take your injury claim seriously regardless of your license revocation.
