42-7-422 Driving While Suspended Under the Financial Responsibility Act
Any person whose license or other privilege to operate a motor vehicle has been suspended, cancelled, or revoked, and restoration thereof or issuance of a new license is contingent upon the furnishing of proof of financial responsibility for the future, and who, during such suspension or revocation or in the absence of proper authorization from the director, drives any motor vehicle upon any highway in Colorado except as permitted under this article, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than five days nor more than six months and, in the discretion of the court, a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars may be imposed. The minimum sentence imposed by this section shall be mandatory, and the court shall not grant probation or a suspended sentence, in whole or in part, or reduce or suspend the fine, except in a case where the defendant has established that the defendant had to drive the motor vehicle in violation of this section because of an emergency, in which case the mandatory jail sentence does not apply. Such minimum sentence need not be five consecutive days but may be served during any thirty-day period.
The elements of Driving Under Suspension FRA are:
- That you were driving a motor vehicle upon any highway or public roadway in Colorado on the date you were charged;
- With knowledge that your license or privilege to drive, as a resident or non-resident, was restrained (suspended, revoked or denied);
- Restoration of your privilege to drive or issuance of a new license was contingent upon your furnishing proof of financial responsibility for the future as required by the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Act; and
- You had not received proper authorization from the executive director of the DMV to drive a motor vehicle.
The penalties for this offense are:
The court may impose a fine from $50 to $500, or imprisonment in the County jail from 5 days to 6 months, or both a fine and imprisonment. The minimum 5 day jail sentence is mandatory and may not be suspended. This is a habitual traffic offender strike. You will not be eligible to be issued a driver’s license or extended and driving privileges in this state for an additional year.
Driving Under Suspension – due to excessive Points
This is the most common DUS charges we see are people who have accumulated an excessive amount of points and have their driving privileges suspended often continue to drive without a valid license. It is important to understand that the additional penalties for DUS or DUR are severe and any type of moving violation will cause a minimum of one year to be added to your revocation or suspension period.
See the Suspension page of our site for further information on point accumulation and traffic offense correlation. If you have been charged with Driving under Suspension or Revocation you need to seek the counsel of a Colorado Criminal Traffic Attorney before making any decisions. There are several different options in which a knowledgeable Colorado Criminal Traffic Attorney can use to defend your case and mitigate the potential damages done by a subsequent charge. Contact The Orr Law Firm today for a FREE Consultation at 303-818-2448 or email us at orrlaw@orrlaw.com.
