When people lose their license, they often lose their job if they find a new job, it’s often at reduced pay or for fewer hours.
Almost 90% of Floridians drive to work, and large parts of the state lack reliable public transportation. In Florida, a driver’s license is a necessity. As a result, they have seen the number of payments increase by 11% their collection rate increase from under 60% to 80% and their referrals to collections agencies decreased by 36%. In 2014, Palm Beach County implemented a program that allows for flexible payment plans. Indeed, evidence demonstrates that when people are given options to pay that are within their means, they pay. License suspensions are a financial issue for most Floridians, not an indication that people are unwilling to pay their debts. In the counties we analyzed, on average, 77.12% of suspensions issued from 2016-2018 remain in effect today. Driver license suspensions often last years. The goal of Florida’s suspension policies is to force people to pay their fines and fees, but it doesn’t work. And after 90 days, court debt is sent to private collections agencies that can add up to 40% of the total amount due.ĭriver’s license suspensions are counterproductive and ineffective. Few courts offer reasonable payment plans – despite state law that requires it. Between 2015-2017, more than 3.5 million suspension notices were issued for unpaid court debt.įlorida routinely suspends driver’s licenses when payments for traffic, toll violations and criminal fines and fees are late, with no assessment of a person’s ability to pay. That’s one out of every fifteen drivers - in just one year. In 2017, 1.1 million suspension notices were sent to Florida drivers because of overdue court debt. Losing a driver’s license can trigger years of financial hardship and a cycle of poverty and punishment few can escape. Without a driver’s license, people can no longer be self-sufficient – they can’t reliably get to work, take their children to school, keep a medical appointment, or attend church. That’s because Florida punishes people by suspending their driver’s license when they cannot afford to pay the steep fines and fees Florida law mandates for traffic tickets, toll violations and criminal convictions. Today, almost 2 million Floridians cannot legally drive because of a suspended license. You can read the full text of the report here, the executive summary here, and case studies here. As of November 2019, almost 2 million Floridians could not legally drive because of a suspended license.ĭriving on Empty shows how driver’s license suspension for nonpayment detracts from public safety, and outlines the racial and economic disparities perpetuated by this practice.
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