The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (“BMV”) mails notices concerning driving privileges only to the address it has on file. Your “BMV address” is on your license unless you have notified the BMV of a change.
For example, before a suspension begins, the BMV will send a “notice of suspension,” detailing the suspension period and the requirements to reinstate your license thereafter.
The notice of suspension is valuable. It gives you the opportunity to correct a suspension entered in error or to request driving privileges during the suspension – before the suspension begins – and how to reinstate your license when the suspension ends.
If your BMV address is not current, you will not receive BMV notices, including notices of suspension, even if those suspensions are in error – which happens, a lot.
A conviction for Driving under suspension is often a criminal offense punishable by a maximum of 180 days in jail. Therefore, even if the suspension is in error, it is impossible to predict how a citing officer may react. That includes potential arrest and incarceration and your vehicle being impounded.
The easiest and surest way to make sure that you will receive BMV notices is to always have your current mailing address on your driver’s license and to get a new license when you move – even if your license has not yet expired.
If you receive a notice of suspension, contact a lawyer immediately. Do not try to navigate either a suspension, especially one entered in error, or the BMV yourself.
You can check your Ohio driver’s license status at https://bmvonline.dps.ohio.gov/home/ by following the prompts at “My BMV Profile”.
I would be happy to discuss this with you. Please contact me with questions about this or any other legal matter. You can reach me at any time on 513-300-4012 . Never hesitate.
John L. O’Shea, Esq. | Cohen Todd, LLC
t 513 333-5227 | f 513 241-4495 | m 513 300-4012
250 East Fifth Street, Suite 2350, Cincinnati OH 45202-5136
[email protected] | www.cohentodddefense.com/attorney/oshea-john-l/