Driving is a privilege. It requires a lot of training before you can legally hit the road. With this privilege comes more than just training. There are a lot of things you need to do inherently to keep other drivers safe and be a responsible person on the road. This could mean patience, a calm attitude, quick reflexes, and a healthy dose of common sense. The problem with this privilege is that no matter how safe of a driver you are, how smart you are in the vehicle, and how much training you have, it cannot erase a bad driving history.
Having a bad driving history is not always this ominous problem that can ruin your life. Many people have things they wish were not on their record, but there are also some that cannot be overlooked. Your driver’s history can be damaged, and this can hurt other areas of your life. There are many problems associated with a bad driving history from damaged credit score, increased insurance costs, a suspended license or canceled license, and even loss of the right to vote. Here are some of the things you would never wish to have on your driving history.
Extensive Amount of Unpaid Parking Tickets
A long list of unpaid or overdue parking looks very bad for your history. This is a problem because it shows a consistent lack of understanding about parking laws to the legal system. The worst situation that can come from this history of parking tickets is legal recourse. It can be reported to law enforcement, and a warrant could be put out for you because you are actively avoiding payment.
Parking tickets by themselves are not an issue, and in most instances, it will not impact your car insurance, and your record, which can be found at DMVRecords.us.org, will not be impacted. The problem is unpaid or overdue tickets, which can land you in hot water and hurt your driving history. It is important always to pay tickets as soon as possible to avoid legal action.
Accidents and Damage
The most obvious problem for your driving history is accidents and damages. The more accidents you get in, the more damage that occurs to your car, other cars, or pedestrians, and the severity of these accidents will hurt your record badly. The first thing that happens is your insurance will be dinged, and you will have to start paying more to remain under your insurance coverage.
Other problems are loss of demerit points, which are hard to regain, and your vehicle will be damaged. It becomes harder to get good coverage if your driving record is littered with accidents and damages, so safe driving is always a must. Sometimes it is hard to avoid because accidents happen at will, but good drivers are rewarded for being safer. Keeping you and everyone around you safe is good for keeping covered and staying out of hot water with your record.
Reckless Driving Charge
Reckless driving is not the same as accidents or damages. Reckless driving implies that you were driving in a way that could have resulted in bodily harm to other motorists or pedestrians. This is something that will appear on your record if you end up having charges pressed against you because the incident was recorded down by a police officer and that equates to a legal record now associated with you and your license. Reckless driving can be swerving in between lanes without signaling, speeding, driving behind vehicles aggressively, stunt driving, and more. These are going to impact your driving history negatively and could stay for a long time, as well as harming your demerit points.
DWI/DUI
One of the worst things you can have on your driving history is DWI/DUI charges. DWI (driving while under the influence) and DUI (driving under the influence) is essentially the same charge, but in some states, the difference between them is in regards to what substance the motorist was under. DWI can mean drugs, while DUI is alcohol, but some places classify it as DWI for both. In any case, these charges are terrible for many reasons, the first being the endangerment of others on the road.
These charges can result in suspension or loss of a license, loss of their motor vehicle, felony prison time, or at its worst, physical harm or death. The long term effects of having DWI/DUI charges on your driving history can lead to the lack of ability to vote because of a loss of your license. It could prevent you from getting jobs, and it will make life much harder. This, along with accidents, are the worst for your driving record and for very obvious reasons.
Expired License
Many people have expired licenses, and it is not bad for your driving history to simply have your license expire without renewing, but the problem lies in driving with an expired license. Driving with an expired license is clearly a violation of the law and can lead to fines that range from a couple hundred and up to a thousand dollars. Driving with an expired license can also incur penalties that last on your record for up to 3 years, which is a long time when you consider how cautious you must now be while driving, knowing you have this incident on your record.
Similarly to most other driving infractions, you will lose demerit points as well, which is another thing that must be taken into account while driving as demerit point deductions are cumulative until you can work back to recovering those lost points. It is always important to remember when your license will expire and renew immediately to avoid harming your driving record.
Driving as a privilege means you have to take a lot of responsibility for your actions. Being safe, aware of other motorists, and understanding the duty of care to learn the rules and regulations around driving are all necessary. When we understand that driving is a privilege, we understand how our actions can harm our driving history, sometimes forever, so it is good to know the consequences for improper operation of vehicles and adhering to the laws meant to protect us and others.
