Licensing, insurance and the law
You signed a traffic ticket but did not show up in court on your date. What can DMV do?
- Suspend your driving privilege until you appear, and record the failure to appear. Correct answer
- Nothing; a missed court date is a matter for the court alone.
- Revoke your driving privilege, as it does after a hit-and-run.
Why
When you sign a ticket, you are promising to come to traffic court. Break that promise and two things follow: DMV may suspend your driving privilege until you do appear, and the failure to appear (FTA) is entered on your driver's record. The rule is the same for adults and minors. The court-only answer misses that DMV acts on its own here. Revocation is real, but the handbook reserves it for other cases, such as a conviction for a hit-and-run or for reckless driving that injured someone.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is Suspend your driving privilege until you appear, and record the failure to appear.
The rule behind this one
License, points and insurance in California goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on licensing, insurance and the law
- You are 17 with a provisional license. In your first year of driving you are convicted of two traffic violations. What can DMV do?
- At your DMV administrative hearing, you want to question the person who prepared a document DMV is using as evidence. What does the handbook say?
- You back into a parked car and cannot find its owner. What must you do?
- After a traffic stop, an officer gives you a Notice of Priority Reexamination of Driver with the top box checked. How long do you have to contact DMV before your driving privilege is suspended automatically?