By Stephen Brandli

Traffic tickets can be expensive and sometime unaffordable.

Unfortunately, failure to pay a traffic ticket can have more serious consequences than your case being sent to collections. You could lose your driver’s license.

And, if you continue to drive, you could be arrested and your car impounded.

When a court in Washington does not receive payment for a traffic ticket, it refers the matter to the Department of Licensing. The DOL then mails a notice to the driver that his license will be suspended. The DOL sends this notice to the mailing address it has associated with the driving record.

With no further notice, the DOL marks the driving record as “suspended.” Continuing to drive with license that has been suspended due to an unpaid traffic ticket is a crime: Driving with a Suspended License in the Third Degree (DWLS 3), a simple misdemeanor.

Driving with a suspended license in the third degree is the most common crime that the San Juan County District Court deals with. While any crime is serious, DWLS 3 is arguably the least so.

Any simple misdemeanor is theoretically punishable with up to 90 days and jail and a $1000 fine. However, the court typically treats DWLS 3 cases leniently.

The District Court has a “relicensing program” that allows eligible drivers to have their cases dismissed if they get their license back, which of course requires payment of the traffic ticket that caused their licenses to be suspended in the first place. Even if the driver is not eligible for this program, the District Court rarely imposes jail time for DWLS 3, unless the driver has a serious criminal history or is a repeat driving offender.

However, if a driver has been convicted of driving with a suspended license (of any degree) in the last five years, local deputies who arrest a driver for DWLS 3 must impound the driver’s vehicle, except under certain rare circumstances.

Normally, the impound will be for 15 days if the driver has one prior conviction for driving with a suspended license, or 30 days if there are two such prior convictions. The driver must pay the impound company its fee to get the vehicle back.

If the driver is unable to pay that fee, the company will sell the car to pay the fee.

The Sheriff’s Office has no discretion on whether to impound the vehicle and no discretion to release it early.

With this in mind it is important to: 1) keep your mailing address up-to-date with the DOL so you will receive any notices it sends; 2) to pay your traffic tickets; and 3) if your license is suspended, to not drive.

— A graduate of the University of Washington School of Law, Class of ’06, Friday Harbor attorney Steve Brandli is a former San Juan County deputy prosecutor, a licensed pilot and enjoys hiking, backpacking and taking photographs in his leisure time.