Difference Between ‘No Operator License’ and ‘Driving While License Revoked’
Published on 10/10/2018
Many North Carolina drivers are unfamiliar with the vast number of traffic violations that they can be charged with. It truly is baffling, sometimes. Some charges can sound fairly simple but can actually be very serious in the eyes of the court. Others seem similar, but actually carry very different consequences. Two charges of this nature are ‘No Operators License’ and ‘Driving While License Revoked’. These two charges get confused with each other regularly because they both can be viewed in layman’s terms as driving without a license. However, that is only true for one of these cases. When you are charged with ‘No Operators License’, this could be for a couple of reasons:
- Not having a license
- Driving with an expired license or not having a license on you (however, officers will often correctly charge you with failure to carry or expired license)
- Driving with an out of state license after living in North Carolina for over 60 days
A conviction of this charge only comes with three points added to your license. Usually, our traffic attorneys seek to resolve this charge by showing proof of a renewed license in court.
The significantly more serious charge is “Driving While License Revoked’ (DWLR), which is a misdemeanor. If you have been charged with this, it means that the state has revoked your driving privileges for some underlying matter. If you are charged with a DWLR along with a moving violation, a conviction could come with a further suspension of your license for a set amount of time. If you have been charged with a DWLR, read our post about what your options are. It's one of the most serious and complex charges and it's vital that you seek legal counsel in your effort to reinstate your driving privileges.
