Everyone has a run in with the law at some point in their life. Oftentimes it’s for a minor traffic violation or a momentary lapse in judgement, and after a small fine and the possibility of steeper penalties for a subsequent violation, most people get back to their law abiding ways.
However, there is a small subset of people who, for one reason or another, seemingly get in trouble on a regular basis. When this happens when you’re behind the wheel, you may find yourself subjected to Minnesota’s Habitual Offender Law. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at Minnesota’s Habitual Offender Law.
Minnesota’s Repeat Offender Law
Minnesota had been pretty forward in recent years about the state uses traffic laws to hold drivers accountable. Unpaid traffic tickets accrue late fees and serious driving offenses can lead to immediate license suspensions, but they also have the Habitual Offender Law in place.
The Habitual Offender Law can restrict the driving privileges of anyone who routinely commits traffic violations, no matter how minor they may be. As the law stands, any person who is convicted of four traffic violations within a one-year period, or earns five convictions within a two-year period will have their license suspended for 30 days. Any additional traffic citations within that time period will result in a 90-day driver’s license suspension.
It’s also worth noting that the time periods begin after your first traffic violation, not calendar year. That means two violations in 2022 and two violations in 2023 can lead to a temporary license suspension if the first and last citations fell within 12 months of one another.
The purpose of the Habitual Offender Law is to restrict the driving privileges of individuals who regularly violate traffic laws and put the safety of others at risk. Even if they seem like rather minor violations, like rolling a stop sign, speeding or driving with a faulty brake light, if you rack up a number of violations in a short period of time, you can lose your license, so make it a point to drive safely all the time.
Of course, if you run into trouble on the road and want some legal help, the team at Appelman Law Firm is here to help. If your traffic citations are starting to pile up, you need to put forth a good defense, otherwise you may not have a license for a while. Let our team go to work for you and get the charges reduced or dropped and help you hang onto your license. For more information, or for help with a different traffic or criminal matter, give Avery Appelman and the team a call today at (952) 224-2277.
