“Need Some Real Good Advice...?”

I recently made the mistake of driving a borrowed vehicle to pick up a relative less than a kilometer from my house.

En route, I slowed at a stop sign, but the vehicle slid on the icy road condition, and to the officer, it appeared as though I disregarded the sign, and continued around the corner without coming to a complete stop.

Knowing I did not have a valid license, I did my best to co-operate fully with the officer. When the officer came back to the car, he told me that my license was under suspension, and gave me a summons to court for the failure to stop and the license suspended.

I have since come to find out that there was another conviction on my record of a drive suspend over 13 years ago. I did not know about that conviction until this recent series of events. I contacted the courts in the jurisdiction and found out that the original suspension was due to unpaid fines.

I have since paid nearly all of the fines off, and have even paid the $150 re-instatement fee and $125 for a new license test (since its been over 3 years since my license was active).

Until recently, I've lived in metro areas, so not having a license was not a big deal, and had many alternatives at my disposal. However, I have recently re-located to where a license would be worthwhile. Since its been 13 years since I've thought about renewing my license, I simply thought it was not valid anymore, but not suspended.

I am just wondering what steps to take next to move forward in the best possible manner and resolve this issue.

From my reading, I am concerned that this is considered a second offence, and while I will find a way to manage the fines, its the jail time and now potential re-suspension of the license I just paid to have re-instated, that are my main concerns.

Any advice would be helpful. My court appearance is scheduled for March 5, 2010, at 10am. I have no idea what to do, or what to expect.

Thanks to any with assistance.