Last updated on March 10, 2022
Question:
I got my temporary driver’s permit last year. You have to have it with you at all times when driving. There were a few times when I knew I didn’t have it, but I was told that it was fine by someone superior to me. I just figured that maybe they knew something about the laws with permits that I didn’t. However, I looked at the rules and it confirmed that you have to have it when driving. Would that be a sin?
Answer:
It doesn’t break God’s laws, but God does tell us to respect the laws of the government (Romans 13:1-5). People can be forgetful at times. If you get pulled over, the officer will write you a ticket and you’ll have to appear in court. The officer, however, has additional problems because he stopped you because you appeared to have broken a law and now he doesn’t have a good way of identifying who you are. Cooperate as best you can, but realize that far too many people lie and so an officer may have no other choice but to arrest you. Likely, when your case gets to court, the lack of a license will be dismissed by the judge, but you still have to deal with the issue that got you stopped in the first place. Then there are other side-effects, such as your insurance company thinking you are a higher risk, and they will either charge you more or refuse to cover you. [“What Happens If You Drive Without a License on You?” Fears Nachawati Law Firm, 15 March 2018].
Since you can’t drive by yourself with a learner’s permit, it is better to pull over when you realize that you don’t have your permit and have the other person drive.