The North Carolina Driver's License Restoration Project was founded in 2009 by a group of Triangle attorneys. 

The mission of the NC DLRP is to help safe, low-income North Carolina drivers restore their NC driving privileges. 

The NC DLRP provides advice only, limited legal counseling to individuals who are caught in a “DWLR spiral” due to a lack of financial resources and/or a lack of knowing how to address seemingly minor traffic violations.  This is NOT a class.  Attorney volunteers along with law student volunteers meet individually with clients to develop a self-help plan to address and potentially restore driving privileges if restoration is possible under NC law.  The NC DLRP does NOT represent clients in court or at hearings.  
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**At this time, we are screening people who have tickets in Orange, Alamance, Durham and/or Chatham counties for our Spring 2013 Client Session**  (Please click on the "For Our Clients" tab at the top of this page for instructions on how to apply for our Spring 2013 Client Session)


The DWLR Cycle


The ability to drive is an essential, if not necessary, skill for most adults to enjoy a productive life.  However, an alarmingly high number of North Carolina drivers are not lawfully licensed to drive on our roads.  Contrary to popular belief, most license suspensions are the result of what many call the "DWLR spiral," referring to the situation in which a person receives a relatively minor traffic violation (failure to wear a seatbelt, expired registration) and fails to address that ticket in a timely manner because of a lack of funds or understanding of the court system.  Their license is then suspended indefinitely for having a failure to appear on that ticket.  They then continue to drive, not knowing that their license is suspended, and subsequently pick up another driving charge, plus Driving While License Revoked (DWLR).  Even if they address the underlying ticket causing the initial suspension, if they are convicted of a moving violation while in a state of suspension, their license will be necessarily be revoked for a one-year period.

Very often, failure to address a relatively minor traffic violation can snowball into serious legal consequences like probation, jail time, and permanent revocation of one's driver's license.  A person in their teens or early twenties will collect a couple of minor citations, fail to handle them properly, and quickly find themselves stuck in the DWLR cycle.  By the time they are able to financially address these tickets, their license is suspended for a period of one to three years, or in a permanent state of suspension.  This cycle not only presents a serious impediment on an individual's ability to work and care for one's family, but also places an increasingly heavy burden on the court system. 

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Please note that this Project was never intended to avoid accountability for these traffic matters, but rather, to help the individuals described above find a legal path to becoming lawfully licensed and insured drivers.  

The DLRP currently works collaboratively with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law, the North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services, and knowledgeable traffic law attorneys. 

If you are a member of the North Carolina State Bar with traffic law experience and would like to volunteer at one of our monthly client sessions, please email us at "ncdlrp@gmail.com."

Disclaimer


The North Carolina Driver's License Restoration Project provides LIMITED legal services to indigent individuals who have a suspended North Carolina driver's license.  The Project provides advice ONLY, through pro bono counseling sessions with low-income individuals who aim to represent themselves in a pro se manner.  The Project does not provide legal representation to clients during court proceedings or at hearings.  Please note that the Project can only suggest possible courses of action and cannot guarantee any client a positive result.  Any proposed course of action is always subject to court approval.
Contact the Project
P.O. Box 111 / Carrboro, N.C. 27510
ncdlrp@gmail.com / (919) 450-8672