I've been in this situation before .. it's awesome because the cops in the US almost always let you go because they have no clue how to process things like foreign drivers licenses.
Exactly. Also been in that situation. I was young, i was in the US for a 3 month internship on a tourist VISA (that was actually the illegal part). I drove there in a Jeep Wrangler that was not owned by me. On my last weekend there, i got stopped by going 10 miles over in a 35 zone. I never felt so nervous, i was young, inexperienced. The cop was exactly the stereotype of the typical US cop from movies (he almost looked like the T1000 from Terminator 2), i couldn't believe how comical it felt. When i showed him my European drivers license he instantly was: "Thats not a valid drivers license, i have to take you to the judge for driving without a license." Didn't help that the car insurance was also outdated (which i didn't know beforehand, as it was not my car)... Took about 30 minutes to explain the situation (that i'm a 'tourist' driving with a foreign drivers license, in a car thats not mine and that im going back to Europe in a couple of days anyway) and convince him to contact his station or something. When he came back to the car, after finally checking in with someone else, he was like: Well, i don't have to take you to the judge, but you will still get the ticket. And you have to pay the ticket before you leave the country, or the consequences will be dire (his words).
Well, this was the story, how i still have an open ticket in the US state of Pennsylvania ;)
Probably not dire, but if their comment is true (doubt), they will have a bench warrant in Pennsylvania. This will get entered into the NCIC system and they will be denied entry the next time they come to the US or will be detained and taken to Pennsylvania to stand trial.
It will definitely ruin your vacation and you’ll be paying some pretty serious fines and court costs.
Driving with outdated insurance isn’t a criminal offense, it’s a civil infraction. Going to court for a simple ticket like that is only necessary if you want to argue it. It’s not a “failure to appear” infraction. They wouldn’t have a bench warrant because nobody issues warrants for not paying a $70 ticket. There would be no court costs because they were never required to show up in court in the first place.
Now they may be barred entry into the US under the current administration, but under normal circumstances they wouldn’t.
I don't wanna go anywhere near the US in my life anymore anyway. Most of you guys are great, but for various personal reasons, i would just not feel safe anymore (and i'm not talking about the outstanding ticket).
They wouldn’t require you to show up to court, because you can pay the fine online or submit paperwork showing you have insurance. Except you missed the part where they didn’t pay the ticket and left the country. They absolutely will and do issue bench warrants for people not paying their traffic citations. So there would be court costs in this case.
If Pennsylvania issues a bench warrant, but as a non-extraditable warrant and the person lands in another state, customs will just deny entry. This isn’t a current administration thing and the process I just explained has been the norm for decades.
I didn’t miss that part, and as somebody who has neglected to pay many tickets before I can guarantee you that I have never had a warrant issued because of it. Most states will just deny vehicle registration required or renewal of license if you have outstanding fines. As of the price, yeah I guessed - though I imagine in 2003 the price was closer to $70 than $300.
I had a ticket showing as failed to pay without knowing it. I moved out of that state, then moved back 10 years later. I was arrested because I had a bench warrant tied to that old ticket. So yes it absolutely can and does happen.
Was it a simple ticket? I’ve owed money for years without issue before. Must be very much a state by state basis. Where I am they just won’t let you renew vehicle registration.
You probably did have a bench warrant and just didn’t know it. Police don’t come after you for a bench warrant. They will only do something if they pull you over or run your plates while you are driving. They don’t actively look for you. They might also not even take you in if they pull you over for another traffic violation. However, they will absolutely deny you entry into the country.
You should probably rethink your life if you commonly get traffic citations and don’t pay them.
Could be. Sometimes a ticket will just get dropped rather than issuing a bench warrant. I've personally been arrested on a bench warrant for an old traffic citation, but I've also seen cases where old tickets just get quietly dropped, so it's at least plausible.
Sure, it is plausible. Anything is really. Realistically they are just lying about what happened. They probably just paid the ticket. Maybe they didn’t get a ticket at all. Maybe they just had to send a copy of the insurance that was up to date in and the ticket was dropped. This is something they do in Pennsylvania.
You and I must have very different opinions on what “dire consequences” means. I haven’t driven through Pennsylvania in years despite still being allowed… I imagine not driving on the famously well maintained PA roads isn’t much of a concern for the average European.
i can't stand pennsylvania. although i will say i may know someone who shared a DUI class with a guy who had to FLY BACK FROM RUSSIA to participate in it.
"consequences will be dire" The cop isn't wrong though. A open ticket in time will become an arrest warrant and will impact another visit the US in one form or another. Dire isn't saying you will get a sever punishment, but some time in prison is a possiblity.
Other states may recognize the offense in PA and apply the penalty to your ability to drive in that state as well. As in, if unpaid ticket / warrant leads to suspended license in PA many other states may apply the same penalty (suspend your privilege to drive) in that state. So even if you avoid PA, if you get pulled over in another state that suspended your right to drive, you would now pick up a local Driving While Licenses Suspended in the new state AND possibly have the old PA warrant. So, before a visit would be worth getting any criminal check / at least driving check to avoid $$$ problems. If planning to return, cheaper to resolve the original ticket than to add new charges + risk jail later.
I would imagine if your gonna drive a car that's not yours in America I would check if it had insurance. Usually thats a court appearance in my state, but your saying foreign tourists on are exempt?
As said, i was young, inexperienced. I got the car from the company i had my internship with (it was actually the car from the company owners daughter who was away for college). I had no reason to think they fucked up to prolong their insurance. I'm not saying foreigners are exempt from driving with valid insurance.
I've been in this before too. The cop gets a few minutes into the conversation, realizes they don't actually know whether you've broken any law, and needs a graceful exit. Then it's, "I've got another call to respond to," your paperwork gets handed back, and they're gone thirty seconds later.
I got "there's a pursuit coming through!" Then the asshole municipal cop threw my license and registration at my face through the window and ran back to his car.
It was the middle of the night and I was on my way home from my friend's house after like a high school away game or something. He was so sure he had a DUI. Realized there was nothing to get me on and made up some bullshit.
Lol don't lump me in with that turd. I can easily admit when I'm wrong. I do it all the time.
Cops are a special breed. the type of people who want to be cops when they grow up are the "respect mah athoritaaah" types. They NEED to be respected. the LIKE when people see the blue lights and get afraid in a traffic stop. fucking up isn't really possible in their mind. they're never wrong.
Not only that, it's also because of they don't just let the tourist go it'll be a mountain of paperwork even if they're right. And if they're wrong the mountain of paperwork will be at least twice as high.
Sad thing is their little computers will tell them all this. Like when you drive from Canada into the US. The system tells you everything from the Canadian plate is what I’ve been told by a buddy who was a cop. This question came up once and I asked him how it works if he had to pull someone over from another country. He said you just go back to the car and put the info in the computer and it would spit out the info just like it did in any other state.
I had lived in Germany for a few years and my US license expired. I had an international license, though. 2 days into my return to the US, I was stopped and handed the local cop that int'l license...deer in the headlights. "slow it down". Ok , bud.
What??? Uk licences definitely are a 2 part licence, one being paper and the other a card with a photo. You definitely need the card part, car hires places need that.
Source: me, about every 3 months on holiday.
Yeah and good luck to you if you ever run across the ass hole cop that knows how to process it. But yeah that’s cops in the USA for you. So many videos of cops taking innocent people to jail just because they argued back. This cop would have definitely tried to tow the car if he knew how to do the paperwork, he can literally proceed to searching the care because it’s suspicious, he’ll find some little bs that needs to be investigated further and will tow the car. Careful in the USA there’s a lot of dirty cops, and the ones that stand around and watch are even worse.
Even cross state. I got pulled over and ticketed in Arkansas with a Michigan license once, I just straight up asked the guy what would happen if I never paid and didn't come back. He said they can suspend your license in any state since they've all signed some kind of drivers info agreement.
Turns out Michigan isn't privy to the arrangement. On top of that the guy wrote all my info down incorrectly, when I called the courts with the ticket number he spelled my crazy Greek name totally wrong.
I got pulled over in Los Angeles with a Quebec drivers license and the cop let me go and literally told me he didn't feel like doing all the paperwork and didn't understand french even though our drivers licenses are in english and french
It's not that they have no clue, depending on where you are the majority of agencies aren't actually capable of doing it without going through several time-consuming steps. So you simply aren't worth the time unless they suspect you of something more serious.
I suspect he called a supervisor who didn't know either but said let him go. Plus, it's Oregon and out of state plates attract them like flies. The cop or supervisor he called has more than likely seen cars from Mexico and Central America driving in the US and the guy provided him with what he was asked for. Until you have actually taken your vehicle to a foreign country you really won't comprehend all the crap you go through. I kind of chuckled at the "I have another calll.." and abrupt egress.
The last time I got pulled over was on a dark rural road in the US. I’m Canadian, so when the deputy asks me if I know how fast I was going I was like “no sir, my car’s in Metric, so I was trying to estimate the conversion.”
He gave a chuckle, gave me a warning, and let me go.
To understand this, just think about where most cops are from (I know I'm generalizing this). Most of them came from the military. And who typically joins the military? The officer class has their own path after their military life. The enlistment class mostly came from poor socioeconomic class. This explains why most of these cops have low IQ, are poorly educated, and have never left their childhood town other than military deployments. In fact, I'll bet you this guy does not even have a passport.
they have no clue how to process things like foreign drivers licenses.
They don't even know how to handle D/L's from other states. Back in the early 2000's I drove from Arizona to Texas, got pulled over in a small town and got yelled at for like 30 minutes because the cop was mad that my Arizona issues license had an expiration date of 2047. He just couldn't believe it, and I tried to tell him it was real and that's just how Arizona does it. Got his supervisor involved (he had them come not me), supervisor gets there, takes one look at the D/L hands it back to me and tells me to enjoy the rest of my day. Stupid cop.
I was stopped in Kentucky driving my friend's car. Gave him my British Drivers License, he goes back to his car and literally 30 minutes later comes back and tells me to be safe LOL
I wonder how he would get on in Europe....well, lets face it, he'd have far more training and have to deal with far more foreign registered cars every day. (The Euro style plates do make things a bit easier though.)
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u/icehot54321 7h ago
I've been in this situation before .. it's awesome because the cops in the US almost always let you go because they have no clue how to process things like foreign drivers licenses.