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One thing leads to another and your license gets suspended. For working drivers like yourself, that’s just about the worst possible consequence of a traffic violation. It means no more driving and no more driving means no more work.

But there are plenty of ways to protect yourself and prevent the government from suspending your license. This article will highlight the importance of fighting your tickets and show what you can do to stay in business.

First let’s understand a little bit more about the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) and the power they have. 

What Is the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC)

The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) is a government agency that regulates the city’s yellow taxi cabs, liveries, limousines, and commuter vans, and other for-hire vehicles.

Established in 1971, the TLC has been in the business of regulating your business for 50 years. Today, there are over 200,000 drivers authorized by the TLC to work in the city. Altogether, these drivers complete well over 1,000,000 trips each day. 

But not everybody can get TLC approval. And just because you have approval doesn’t mean the TLC can’t take it away. The next section of this guide will list a few reasons the TLC can cite when taking away your license.

Reasons the TLC Can Suspend Your License  

Now’s the perfect time to point out a key difference between a driver license and a TLC license: The TLC is not able to suspend your driver license but it can suspend your TLC license. That means the TLC cannot stop you from driving altogether, although it can stop you from driving for a living. For liveries and other for-hire drivers, that can be just as bad.

There are many reasons why the TLC could suspend your TLC license, including points, accidents, criminal charges, driving violations, DUI, and more. These four reasons are the most common, so we’ll focus on them first:

Points

The New York state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) uses a point system to determine which drivers qualify for driver license suspensions, among other things. The TLC has access to the points listed in that system and will use it to determine whether to suspend your TLC license.

If you get more than 5 points and less than 10 points in a 15-month period, the TLC will suspend your TLC license. If you get 10 or more points in that time period, the TLC will outright revoke your TLC license.

There’s a big difference between suspensions and revocations. A suspended license can be earned back either by completing court-ordered steps or by waiting out the suspension period. A revoked license will never come back. You will have to go through the process of getting an entirely new one—if the TLC even lets you.

You can avoid getting points on your license by having your traffic tickets dismissed. In order to do so, you must plead not guilty and fight them in court. Download the WinIt app and get started today.

Accidents

There are three kinds of accidents for which the TLC can suspend your TLC license. The first kind is an accident involving serious bodily injury and/or death. Serious bodily injuries include loss of limb, paralysis, concussion, or other kinds of permanent damage.

The second kind is an accident in which you are found negligent. That is, any accident where you were not only at fault, but also failing to uphold your legal duties. Examples of this kind of accident are if you fell asleep while driving or if you were texting while driving.

The third is an accident for which you don’t file a vehicle incident report. In New York, whenever you are involved in a car accident, the government requires you to submit a report. Failure to do so can get you in serious trouble both with the TLC and with the DMV.

Criminal Charges

If you are convicted of specific kinds of crime, the TLC can suspend or revoke your TLC license. Due to New York’s rather progressive stance on employing people with criminal records, however, not every crime is likely to get your license suspended. For example, selling lemonade at a stand without a permit is less likely to get your license suspended than vehicular homicide is.

Rule 80-08(c)(3)(iii) requires you to report any criminal charges the court accuses you of to the TLC. Even though you are innocent until proven guilty, the TLC is still allowed to suspend your license pending the results of your case.

Driving Violations

Certain kinds of driving violations and traffic infractions can result in the TLC suspending your TLC license. These tend to be violations that are directly related to your driving, rather than equipment violations. That being said, having faulty equipment on your vehicle can result in you failing a vehicle inspection, which can, in turn, result in you losing your TLC license.

Here are a few examples of violations that can result in the suspension of your TLC license:

• Distracted driving (e.g., texting, using a cell phone, playing video games).
• Working too many hours.
• Locking passenger doors.

TLC Points Vs DMV Points

Although the TLC and the DMV both use points to determine whether to suspend your license, they do so in different ways. For example, like we talked about earlier, the number of points needed for a TLC license suspension is significantly less than the number of points needed for a driver license suspension.

Here’s a full list of the differences between the way the TLC calculates points and the way the DMV calculates points:

The TLC License Suspension Process

It all starts with satisfying one or more of the conditions for suspension mentioned earlier in this article. Once the TLC decides to suspend your license, you’ll be assigned a hearing before the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH).

Before the hearing, you and your lawyer will be asked to meet with the judge in conference to talk about the reason for suspension. Depending on how that conference goes, the judge can either dismiss the case there or allow it to advance to the next phase of the suspension process.

You will be given a chance to defend yourself and state your case at your hearing. However, you will be arguing against an expert traffic lawyer who does this kind of thing countless times each week. To stand a chance, you’ll need to hire a traffic lawyer of your own.

The Importance of Fighting a Ticket as a Taxi Driver  

Driving is your lifeline. Without a TLC license, you can’t legally drive a taxi for hire in New York City. But the threat of suspension isn’t the end of the road, rather the beginning. Once the TLC starts the suspension process, it’s important to hire an expert traffic lawyer from the WinIt app to help fight your charges and prevent your TLC license from being suspended.