Legal Question in Traffic Law in New Jersey

Yes. The officer can observe you driving, run your plates, and mail a ticket. He will still need to prove in court that you were the driver.

The police are allowed to just run your plates to see if there are any outstanding warrants or other legal issues with the registered owner of the car. They are also allowed to mail you the tickets they write. Your only defense in a case like this would be to show that you were not driving your car at the time the ticket was written. Please contact my office for a free consultation if you have any other questions.

Sincerely yours, -Ronald Aronds, Esq.-

A police officer can run your plates to determine the status of the owner of the vehicle, or, if he knows your identity, he can run your motor vehicle records from his car. You can be charged, based on probable cause to believe you have committed an offense. On the other hand, proof is another matter because the officer must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that you were the person operating the vehicle at the time in question. Call me, if you like.

Based on the previous answers you obviously should now know that the answer to your question is yes you can receive a driving while suspended ticket even if you were not pulled over for it. Generally people are never pulled over for driving while suspended they are pulled over for allegedly committing another motor vehicle infraction (speeding, Illegal U-turn) and/or for having a broken tail light (a non-moving violation) and then when the officer runs a check on the status of the operator's license it comes up suspended and/or expired. Although it is true that the officer would need to establish that you were the operator of the car, the State also needs to establish (prove) that you had reason to know that your license was actually suspended. Proving this can be done in different ways such as if the driver's license was suspended by another Judge in Court or if the suspension was done administratively by the Motor Vehicle Commission. For example, if the person accumulated too manty points which triggered a suspension from the DMV. The Commission is required to notify you and sometimes Knowledge (or your lack of Knowledge) can prove to be a defense. It clearly helps to know why your licesne was suspended to begin with, It is a serious offense that can trigger severe consequences, so exploring if you may have a defense can often prove crucial to the outcome. Please feel free to call with any questions. Anyway, I hope this helps, (201)-894-9498