Fine & Penalty for Driving Without License
Worth to note the fines and penalties for driving without license in the Philippines if you don’t want to pay any peso to the police!
Driving Without License Laws in the Philippines
Have you ever been in a situation that you were fine, going along through your morning routine, getting stuck in traffic but not caring about it because you do not have a care in the world, then you suddenly get this uneasy feeling in your stomach?
You check your bags for your wallet and it hits you like a sudden wave of despair: you’ve left your wallet at home and along with it, your driver’s license!
This is actually one of the most common traffic violations that Filipinos commit, whether intentionally or not. Too many Filipinos do not bother with either renewing their licenses due to inappropriate cost-saving by simply not wanting to pay for the certificate for one reason or another.
This happens to the best of us and is never an easy situation, you take a U-Turn and beat yourself up for leaving it behind because you know for a fact that the Philippines has strict driving without a license laws in place and you can’t risk it, you might have an important day ahead of you but you know you’ve made the right choice to head back for it.
Thank goodness for Grab, as well, looks like you’re finally going to use their delivery services to have the darn thing brought to you.
Driving without license law has been given very specific and stringent fines and penalties by the LTO or the Land Transportation Office which is the equivalent of the Department of Motor Vehicles in the United States.
It was recently updated in 2014 with heavier fines and penalties that reach up to suspensions and being black-listed from even applying for a license.
Don’t even get us started with people who purchase fake driver’s licenses that can cost even double whatever the real thing does. Whether the reason for buying fakes is for convenience or sheer anarchy, we do not have a clue.
This creates serious ramifications with road safety in the country as driving without a license and then getting into an accident in the Philippines not only creates problems for litigation but for creating problems with regulation and allowing unfit and dangerous drivers to ply our roads, according to an article from Philkotse.com, a leading Automotive’s portal.
Php 3,000 Penalty for driving without license
This is the very reason that the LTO has implemented much stricter rules and applied heftier fines and penalties for those who still choose to ignore the law. As mentioned earlier, The LTO has updated their penalty and fines matrix since the last administration so if you’re wondering what the fine for driving without license is, you might want to listen up.
Driving without license LTO penalty is Php 3,000, and that would be on top of whatever traffic violation you were flagged down for in the first place. So for every time you forget your license at home or have an invalid license on you, you will have to pay the said fine.
Then there’s the problem of carrying counterfeit licenses. The driving without license fine may be a bit too light for this violation so the LTO has warned people who dare use counterfeit licenses that they have the power to penalize offenders with actual prison time.
Apart from the fine levied and suspension of applying for a license, the revised penal code of the Philippines states that holding a counterfeit license is tantamount to criminal intent which carries a penalty of prison time up to but not more than 6 months pending the court’s decision.
Driving without license in the Philippines can not only be expensive but also dangerous. It may be convenient or cheaper to just ignore getting a license altogether but when road-safety is on the line, it’s best to follow the rules.
Author: Roy Robles
