In New Jersey driving while having a suspended license have penalties set forth in NJSA 39:3-40. This section of New Jersey law states, "no person to whom a drivers license has been refused or whose driver's license or reciprocity privilege has been suspended or revoked or who has been prohibited from obtaining a driver's license, shall personally operate a motor vehicle during the period of refusal suspension, revocation or prohibition." The statute also prohibits the operation of a motor vehicle whose registration has been revoked.

Upon conviction of driving with a suspended license for the first time in NJ comes with a penalty $500. You will also be surcharged a mandatory of $250 per year for 3 years by the DMV. Additionally, the NJ statute states upon the conviction the court shall impose or extend a period of suspension not to exceed 6 months.

The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) states that driving while your license and/or registration have been suspended can result in the following penalties:

First offense - Fine of $500 and up to six months additional license and/or registration suspension.

Second Offense - Fine of $750, jail sentence for not more than five days and up to six months additional license and/or registration suspension.

Third Offense - Fine of $1,000, a 10-day jail sentence and up to six months additional license and/or registration suspension.

The MVC goes on to say that if you continue to drive and have a suspension for failing to pay insurance surcharges you will receive an additional $3,000 fine plus the fines and penalties listed above. Or if your license and/or registration is suspended for failure to properly insure your vehicle, the penalties are a fine of $500 and an additional driver license suspension of one to two years and possible court-ordered imprisonment for up to 90 days.

Furthermore if you have an accident while your license and/ or registration is suspended for failure to insure your vehicle and someone else is hurt, you must pay the fine, serve a license suspension and face a minimum 45-day jail sentence.

Or if you are driving after your license and/or registration is suspended for a drug, alcohol or refusal to take a breath test offense, or if you are a habitual offender, the penalties are a fine of $500 and an additional license suspension of one to two years and/or possible court-ordered imprisonment for 10-90 days.

So it appears your penalties for these tickets will partly be determined based on what your original offense was that caused your license and registration to be suspended. We do not see points for driving with a suspended license and suspended registration on the NJSA point schedule but the court and/or MVC should be able to tell you for certain if points will be assessed for these offenses.

By speaking to the clerk of the court you should also be able to advise you on what will happen in court and the specific penalties you may receive. As for insurance points you will need to discuss this with your insurance agent since insurance rating systems can differ but the amount NJ insurance points for driving with a suspended license is usually 9.