Dear prismafx-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question.
Avoiding the summons and pretending it never happened will result in a
hornet?s nest of problems. First, your failure you appear will not
necessarily result in a conviction in absentia (as alluded to my the
commenter below) but it will trigger a bench warrant for your arrest
for Failure to Appear (essentially Contempt of Court) and also a
suspension or revocation that automatically appears on your driver
history when queried IN ALL 50 STATES. This will be most likely be
accompanied by a bond amount, additional fines, reinstatement fees and
additional court costs ON TOP of the original unpaid fine. A person
arrested on a bench warrant can very easily find himself physically in
jail, which in turn will cost you the time off from work, loss of
income and potentially a loss of your job.
In addition, people who ?fail to appear?, ?fail to comply? and ?fail
to pay? fines in Florida typically have their driver?s license
suspended or revoked.
Title XXIII MOTOR VEHICLES
Chapter 322 DRIVERS' LICENSES
322.245 Suspension of license upon failure of person charged with
specified offense under chapter 316, chapter 320, or this chapter to
comply with directives ordered by traffic court or upon failure to pay
child support in non-IV-D cases as provided in chapter 61 or failure
to pay any financial obligation in any other criminal case.--
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?mode=View%20Statutes&SubMenu=1&App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=failure+to+pay&URL=CH0322/Sec245.HTM
Once this occurs the Florida license is invalid (ANYWHERE IN THE US)
and this too is reported to other agencies. If the license is
suspended (or worse) it must be physically surrendered so there?s no
way around it if you are trying to conceal the issue.
Title XXIII MOTOR VEHICLES
Chapter 322 DRIVERS' LICENSES
322.059 Mandatory surrender of suspended driver's license and
registration.--Any person whose driver's license or registration has
been suspended as provided in s. 322.058 must immediately return his
or her driver's license and registration to the Department of Highway
Safety and Motor Vehicles. If such person fails to return his or her
driver's license or registration, any law enforcement agent may seize
the license or registration while the driver's license or registration
is suspended.
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0322/SEC059.HTM&Title=->2005->Ch0322->Section%20059#0322.059
Finally, there is a pending issue that will soon become widely known
which will probably change the way states cooperate and communicate
with regard to interstate compacts. The Driver License Agreement (DLC)
and the Non-Resident Violator Compact (NRVC) are being revised and
combined into the new Driver License Agreement (DLA). Under the
current program not all states participate but if it is any indication
as to the things to come, 49 of the 50 states voted in favor of the
new revised compact, the DLA. While it is not yet clear how, and to
what extent, some states will participate in the program it is certain
that most states will more diligently and more efficiently report
violations, convictions and suspensions to one another. In short,
because of the upcoming DLA, screwing up now can easily come back to
bite you later even though it appears that coast is clear. I don?t
recommend that you put yourself in that position. You WILL NOT come
out on top.
I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
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