Is driving without a license a felony?

Driving without a license can mean two different things: never having a valid license, or driving while a license is suspended, revoked or canceled. Illinois, Virginia and Ohio punish the second more severely than the first.^1,2,3,4,5,6

Illinois makes unlicensed driving a Class B misdemeanor for a person who was never issued a license, but driving on a suspended or revoked license a Class A misdemeanor. Virginia makes driving without a license a Class 2 misdemeanor and driving on a suspended or revoked license a Class 1 misdemeanor. Ohio makes driving without ever holding a license an unclassified misdemeanor with no jail term, and driving under suspension a first-degree misdemeanor.

Driving with an expired license, or not carrying a valid one, is often a ticket or a minor offense rather than a serious crime. North Carolina makes failing to carry a license or driving with an expired license an infraction, and Ohio makes an expired license a minor misdemeanor.^5,7,8

In Pennsylvania, driving without a valid license is a summary offense with a $200 fine, or $25 if the license lapsed no more than a year earlier. Pennsylvania also drops the charge if the driver shows at the issuing office within 15 days a license that was valid at the time. North Carolina has a similar defense for failing to carry a license.

Driving without ever having a license is a misdemeanor or lesser offense in the states checked, and in California and New York it is usually only a traffic infraction. It is a Class B misdemeanor in Illinois, a Class 3 misdemeanor in North Carolina, a Class 2 misdemeanor in Virginia, a second-degree misdemeanor in Florida for a first conviction, and a summary offense in Pennsylvania.^{1,3,5,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15}

Ohio makes it an unclassified misdemeanor with no jail, a fine of up to $1,000 and up to 500 hours of community service. Texas makes failing to have a license a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $200, rising to a Class A misdemeanor if the person was also violating the state's liability insurance requirement and caused or was at fault in a crash with serious bodily injury or death. California makes a first or second violation an infraction with a $100 fine. New York's penalty is a fine of $75 to $300, up to 15 days in jail, or both, and because the law does not call it a misdemeanor, it is a traffic infraction, which is not a crime.

Driving while a license is suspended or revoked is a misdemeanor in most of the states checked. It is a Class A misdemeanor in Illinois, a first-degree misdemeanor in Ohio, a Class 1 misdemeanor in Virginia, a Class 3 misdemeanor in North Carolina, and a misdemeanor in California.^{2,4,6,10,16,17,18,19,20,21}

Florida makes a knowing first offense a second-degree misdemeanor. New York calls it aggravated unlicensed operation in the third degree, a misdemeanor. Texas makes it a Class C misdemeanor, or Class B with a prior conviction. In North Carolina it is a Class 1 misdemeanor if the revocation was for impaired driving. Pennsylvania makes it a summary offense with a $200 fine.

Repeat convictions usually raise the penalty, often to a higher misdemeanor or a minimum jail term, but they do not turn driving on a suspended license into a felony in most of the states checked.^3,17,19,20

In Florida a second conviction is a first-degree misdemeanor and a third requires at least 10 days in jail. Virginia makes a second driving-without-a-license conviction a Class 1 misdemeanor. California's penalty for a second conviction within five years of a prior one includes 5 days to one year in jail and a fine of $500 to $2,000. New York raises it to the second degree for a repeat within 18 months.

Some states have a felony for driving after being declared a habitual traffic offender or after losing a license for repeat drunk driving. Florida makes driving as a habitual traffic offender a third-degree felony. Virginia repealed its habitual offender article, but driving while a license is revoked under its repeat-DUI law can still be a felony. California's habitual traffic offender law carries county jail time, not prison.^19,22,23,24

Virginia's felony applies to driving while a license is revoked under Code section 46.2-391, which covers repeat DUI convictions and DUI-related manslaughter or maiming, if the driving endangers others, if the person is driving under the influence and has a prior DUI conviction, or if it is a second or later such offense. It carries one to five years with a one-year mandatory minimum, or a mandatory 12 months in jail. California's habitual traffic offender law punishes a first conviction with 30 days in county jail and a $1,000 fine, and a second within seven years with 180 days and a $2,000 fine.

Driving without a license or on a suspended license can be a felony when it is tied to a crash that seriously hurts or kills someone. Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia and Pennsylvania each have a felony or an added sentence in that situation.^{2,19,25,26,27}

Florida makes careless driving that causes death or serious bodily injury, without a license or on certain suspended licenses, a third-degree felony. Illinois makes a second or later suspended-license violation a Class 4 felony if the driving is the proximate cause of a crash that injures or kills someone. Ohio raises vehicular assault to a third-degree felony if the driver's license was under suspension. Virginia makes reckless driving a Class 6 felony if the driver was driving without a valid license because of a suspension or revocation for a moving violation and caused a death. Pennsylvania allows up to five more years for homicide by vehicle if the person is also convicted of driving without a license or on a suspended one.

Driving on a license suspended for a serious reason, or with a long record of suspensions, can be a felony. Florida's third or later conviction is a third-degree felony in some cases, New York's aggravated unlicensed operation in the first degree is a class E felony, and Illinois makes it a Class 4 felony if the license was revoked for reckless homicide or an aggravated DUI death.^2,19,20

Florida applies its felony to a third or later conviction if the current violation or the latest prior one involves a suspension from DUI, a test refusal, a traffic offense causing death or serious bodily injury, or fleeing or eluding. New York's first degree includes driving drunk while suspended for alcohol-related reasons or for three or more failures to answer, appear or pay, driving with ten or more such suspensions or five or more for listed serious reasons, and driving while permanently revoked. Illinois also makes a second violation a Class 4 felony when both it and the prior one happened while the license was suspended or revoked for DUI or for leaving the scene of an injury crash. Florida also makes a second conviction for driving a commercial vehicle on a suspended license a third-degree felony.

Several states checked have no felony for driving without a license or on a suspended license by itself. In Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and California, the offense stays at the misdemeanor level or lower, with higher charges only if other crimes are involved.^{5,6,8,10,16,17,21,28}

In North Carolina a revoked license can add to other crimes. Driving while revoked is one of the aggravating factors that, with another, turns speeding to elude arrest from a Class 1 misdemeanor into a Class H felony.

Texas

Texas: driving with an invalid license (suspended, revoked, canceled or expired during a suspension) is a Class C misdemeanor, a Class B misdemeanor with a prior conviction or a violation of the insurance requirement, and a Class A misdemeanor if the driver was also violating the liability insurance requirement and was at fault in a crash with serious injury or death. Having no license at all is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $200.^10,11

A Class B misdemeanor also applies if a prior license suspension was for an intoxicated-driving offense. Texas Transportation Code sections 521.021, 521.025, 521.457 and 521.461.

Florida

Florida: driving without a license is a second-degree misdemeanor for a first conviction, a first-degree misdemeanor for a second, and a first-degree misdemeanor with 10 days minimum jail for a third. Knowingly driving on a suspended license is a second-degree misdemeanor, and driving as a designated habitual traffic offender is a third-degree felony.^9,19

Careless driving that causes death or serious bodily injury while unlicensed is a third-degree felony. Florida Statutes sections 322.03 and 322.34.

California

California: driving without a license is an infraction with a $100 fine for a first or second violation. Driving while a license is suspended or revoked is a misdemeanor, and a first conviction under Vehicle Code section 14601.1 is punishable by up to six months in county jail or a fine of $300 to $1,000, or both.^{12,13,17,18,22,29,30}

Unlicensed driving can be charged as a misdemeanor or an infraction for a third or later violation, or if the person had a prior suspension for certain driving offenses such as reckless driving or DUI. A 14601.1 repeat within five years carries 5 days to one year in jail and a fine of $500 to $2,000, and prosecutors may charge a 14601.1 violation as an infraction instead. The habitual traffic offender law, section 14601.3, carries 30 days in county jail and a $1,000 fine for a first conviction.

New York

New York: driving without a license is a traffic infraction, which is not a crime, punishable by a fine of $75 to $300, up to 15 days in jail, or both. Aggravated unlicensed operation, driving while knowing the license is suspended or revoked, is a misdemeanor in the third and second degrees and a class E felony in the first degree.^14,15,20

The third degree carries a fine of $200 to $500, up to 30 days in jail, or both. The second degree covers a repeat within 18 months, suspensions for drunk-driving offenses or test refusals, and three or more suspensions for failing to answer, appear or pay. Vehicle and Traffic Law sections 155, 509 and 511.

Illinois

Illinois: driving without a license is a Class B misdemeanor if the person never had one, and a Class A misdemeanor if the person failed to get a license after a revocation ended. Driving on a suspended or revoked license is a Class A misdemeanor, and a Class 4 felony in set cases.^1,2

The Class 4 felony applies to a second or later violation that causes a crash injuring or killing someone, to driving with a license revoked for reckless homicide or a death from aggravated DUI, and to a second violation when both it and the prior one happened while the license was suspended or revoked for DUI or for leaving the scene of an injury crash. Some later repeats tied to those suspensions carry higher felony classes. 625 ILCS 5/6-101, 6-303 and 6-601.

Ohio

Ohio: driving without ever having held a license is an unclassified misdemeanor with no jail term, and a first-degree misdemeanor with a prior conviction. Driving under suspension is a first-degree misdemeanor.^5,6

Driving with an expired license is a minor misdemeanor. Neither Ohio section 4510.11 nor 4510.12 has a felony grade. Ohio Revised Code sections 4510.11 and 4510.12.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania: driving without a valid license is a summary offense with a $200 fine. Driving while the license is suspended or revoked is also a summary offense with a $200 fine, with tougher penalties when the suspension was tied to DUI.^8,21

When the suspension was tied to DUI, a first conviction carries a $500 fine and 60 days in jail, a second $1,000 and 90 days, and a third or later is a third-degree misdemeanor. If the driver also had alcohol or certain drugs in the blood, a second conviction is a third-degree misdemeanor and a third a first-degree misdemeanor. 75 Pa.C.S. sections 1501 and 1543.

Virginia

Virginia: driving without a license is a Class 2 misdemeanor, or a Class 1 misdemeanor for a second or later violation. Driving while suspended or revoked is a Class 1 misdemeanor, but driving while revoked under the repeat-DUI law can be a felony.^3,4,23,26

Driving while revoked under section 46.2-391 is a felony punishable by one to five years if the driving endangers others, if the person is driving under the influence with a prior DUI conviction, or for a second or later such offense; otherwise it is a Class 1 misdemeanor with 10 days mandatory jail. Reckless driving that kills someone while the driver's license is suspended or revoked for a moving violation is a Class 6 felony. Code of Virginia sections 46.2-300, 46.2-301, 46.2-391 and 46.2-868.