Habitual Traffic Offender Revocations
You may be defined as a Habitual Traffic Offender (HTO) in Florida if you have accumulated a certain number of criminal convictions or offenses associated with motor vehicles within a five year period. Classification as an HTO can lead to severe penalties, including temporary removal of driving privileges, jail time, fines and possibly permanent driver’s license revocation.
Orlando Habitual Traffic Offender Defense Attorneys
If you have been classified as a Habitual Traffic Offender in Orange County, Florida, contact the attorneys at Hale & Hale, P.A. Richard O. Hale and Maria D. Hale are experienced and knowledgeable about Florida’s traffic laws, and will make every effort to help you find the best possible outcome for your situation. If you have been charged in Florida as a Habitual Traffic Offender, contact the law office of Hale & Hale at (407) 425-4640 for a consultation about your alleged offense in Orlando.
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Florida Definition for Habitual Traffic Offender Revocations
Florida Habitual Traffic Offender status is defined in Fla. Stat. § 322.264, in addition to offenses that can result in HTO status. If someone is convicted of three or more of the following offenses at any time, they can be classified as a Habitual Traffic Offender:
Offenses and convictions that occurred out of state that are comparable to the offenses listed above will count as convictions resulting in Habitual Traffic Offender status in Florida.
In addition to the preceding offenses, a person can be categorized as Habitual Traffic Offender if they have fifteen or more moving traffic violation convictions in a five year period. Florida’s moving traffic violations are classified under the state’s driving point system.
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Habitual Traffic Offender Penalties
If a person has been classified as a Habitual Traffic Offender from three serious vehicular offenses or fifteen moving violations, they will be subject to a five-year driver’s license suspension.
If an HTO is caught driving while their license has been suspended, they can be convicted of felony of a third degree. This felony can result in a Florida prison sentence for up to five years and/or fines up to $5,000.
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Florida’s Driving Point System
Many moving violations have been assigned points by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to be assessed against a person’s driving record. These points are used to determine if someone is a safe driver, and whether their license should be suspended for accruing too many points. If someone receives 15 moving violations in a five-year period, they can be labeled as a Habitual Traffic Offender. Certain moving violations and the points assigned to each offense include:
- Child restraint violation - 3 points
- Driving with an open container of alcohol - 3 points
- Other moving violations – 3 points
- Parking on a highway outside city limits
- Speeding 15 miles per hour or less over the speed limit – 3 points
- Toll violations – 3 points
- Accident caused by another moving traffic violation – 4 points
- Driving during restricted hours – 4 points
- Passing a stopped school bus – 4 points
- Reckless driving – 4 point
- Running a red light – 4 points
- Speeding over 15 miles over the speed limit - 4 points
- Crash caused by a speeding violation – 6 points
- Leaving the scene of a crash with property damage more than $50 – 6 points
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Hardship License for Habitual Traffic Offenders
If you have been classified as an HTO and have been sentenced to a license suspension for a period of five years, you may be eligible to receive a hardship license for business or work purposes.
This hardship license is not available for the first year after a license has been revoked due to HTO status. However, after the first year of suspension has passed, an HTO will be able to apply for a hardship license through the Administrative Review Office.
In order to apply for a hardship license, your attorney will file a petition with the Administrative Review Office on your behalf after you have completed the Advanced Driver Improvement School. Additionally, if your HTO status resulted from an alcohol-related driving offense, you will also be required to attend alcohol education courses.
After your petition has been filed, and all requirements have been completed, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles will conduct an investigation regarding your fitness and qualifications to drive. After this investigation, an administrative hearing will be held to determine whether your driving privileges should be completely restored, or only for work-related purposes.
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Fight Your Florida Habitual Traffic Offender License Revocation
- Motion to Vacate or Set Aside a Conviction –
Someone who has been classified as an HTO can file a Motion to Vacate or Motion to Set Aside a Conviction. These motions request the court to set a previous judgment or court order that led to your categorization as a Habitual Traffic Offender. Someone who has been labeled as an HTO will have up to two years after their license was revoked to file these motions to challenge the underlying offenses leading to the HTO status.
- Administrative Review Hearing –
A person labeled as an Habitual Traffic Offender can also request an Administrative Review Hearing. If the offender believes their driver’s license has been suspended for a baseless legal reason, they can request an administrative record review hearing. After a person’s license has been suspended, they only have 30 days to request this hearing. A few reasons that would justify an Administrative Review Hearing can include inaccurate information was on the citation, a person’s identity was mistaken, or a person’s driving record contained errors.
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Hale & Hale, P.A. | Orlando Habitual Traffic Offender Defense Attorneys
If you have been charged as a Habitual Traffic Offender in Orange County, Florida, contact the attorneys of Hale & Hale, P.A. to discuss the facts of your particular case. Maria and Richard Hale are experienced attorneys who will make every effort to help you avoid repercussions for violations of your HTO status, and help you reinstate your driving privileges. Contact the law office of Hale & Hale, P.A. at (407) 425-4640 for a consultation about your underlying traffic violations and Habitual Traffic Offender classification in Orange County, Florida, and the surrounding areas of Orlando, Seminole County, Osceola County, Winter Park and Kissimmee.