In Illinois, there are many ways you can lose your driving privileges. Not paying child support, not appearing in court when you are summoned, not paying traffic tickets or fines, and DUI are ways your driver’s license can be suspended or revoked. 

Another common way driver’s license suspensions or revocations take place is when you accumulate too many points on your driving record during a certain period of time. The ability to drive freely is something you do not know how much you would miss until it is gone. It is important to understand the Illinois points system so you can avoid license suspension or revocation.

Unlike many sports, you do not want to score points when you drive. Illinois, like many other states, has a point system for drivers. When a driver commits a traffic infraction, one or more points can be added to his or her driver’s license. As these points add up, so do the penalties the driver faces.

Common Traffic Offenses and Their Point Values

The more severe a traffic infraction, the more points a driver will accrue on his or her license. A few common traffic offenses and their point values include the following:

Reckless driving is the act of operating a motor vehicle in a manner that is not safe for you or others on the roadway. Specifically, Illinois law describes reckless driving as driving that is either:

• In wanton or willful disregard for the safety of other people or personal property; or
• Knowingly using an incline in the roadway, such as a hill, to make a motor vehicle become airborne.

Reckless driving is not the same as careless driving. Reckless driving describes more dangerous behavior than careless driving and is thus charged more severely than careless driving. If you are facing a reckless driving charge, contact an experienced traffic violation defense lawyer as soon as possible to begin working on your defense strategy.

Examples of Reckless Driving

There are two ways an Illinois driver can “lose” his or her driver’s license: suspension and revocation. When a driver’s license is suspended, the driver is prohibited from driving for a specific period of time, during which he or she may be required to fulfill requirements like a driver education course or an alcohol education course. When a driver’s license is revoked, he or she is indefinitely barred from driving. In both of these scenarios, the driver can have his or her license reinstated. How and when the license is reinstated depends on whether it was suspended or revoked and in some cases, the circumstances surrounding the revocation.

If your License is Suspended, You Must Wait Until it is Finished

When a driver’s license is suspended, it is suspended for a specific period of time. This could be a few months, one year, or even a few years.

There are several different reasons why an individual’s driver’s license can be suspended or revoked in Illinois. Reasons include DUI charges, punishment for certain civil offenses like failing to appear in court when required and accruing a substantial amount of unpaid child support, and exceeding the state’s limit for traffic violations during a one-year period. When a driver’s license is suspended or revoked, the individual cannot legally operate any motor vehicle.

Once the suspension period is over, the individual can have his or her driver’s license reinstated. In some cases, an individual whose license was revoked can also have it reinstated and drive again.

At minimum, a year must pass from an individual’s revocation for him or her to seek a driver’s license reinstatement. For an individual with multiple DUI convictions, this period is longer.