SUSPENDED LICENSE AND REGISTRATION AND NEVER NOTIFIED

[BROADST25]

I live in N.J. I was stopped while taking my children to school. I asked the officer if I was stopped for passing the truck that I had just passed. I passed a truck that was doing about 30 mph in a 50 mph zone. I never went over the speed limit and I used my turn signal. He said "no thats not why I stopped you, don't worry about it". When he returned with all my paperwork, he told me my license and registration were suspended and that I had no insurance. He issued me tickets for driving while suspended and without a registration.He also ticketed me for having a bad sticker, and another ticket for having my four year old son in the front seat in a safty belt. I knew my sticker was bad. I thought a 40 pound child was okay up front. I DID NOT KNOW MY INSURANCE WAS CANCELLED, WHICH CAUSED MY REGISTRATION TO BE REVOKED WHICH IN TURN HAD MY LICENSE SUSPENDED. I NEVER RECIEVED ANY TYPE OF NOTICE. I was stopped on Oct. 9th and my license was suspened on Sept 13th. On Oct. 10th I renewed my insurance, had both my license and registration restored. I will have my car inspected sometime this week. I go to court on Nov. 1st. What should I expect, and do I need a lawyer. I don't have the money for a lawyer now but I could get it together by the end of Nov. Can I postpone?
The officer who pulled me over was a total gentleman and even drove me and my children to a local store where we could wait for someone to pick us up. (They impounded my car, which I got back the next day) Why didn't he write me a ticket for not having insurance?

 

[lawrat]

I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

There was probably some sort of error and you were never notified. The officer probably did not ticket you for the last part because he felt bad. They have the option not to ticket you.

Anyway, if you have all of this restored and can prove that there was an error, then you should be okay.

What you need to worry about are the following:

1. Why was your insurance cancelled and how come you didn't know? Did you have the burden of knowing your insurance was cancelled.

2. About the child in the front seat -->state laws have really become stricter. To check to see if it is okay, check with your state DMV. I will include a website where you can link to your state DMV.
http://lawenforcement.about.com/careers/lawenforcement/msubdmv.htm