but I just got a speeding ticket today, and in Illinois if you don't have a bond card, they take your license instead. One of the first thoughts I had after the cop walked off with my license was "Gee, I'm glad I brew my own beer or I'd have to dry up for a week or two." I always get carded at bars and liquor stores.

When did they start doing this? And what is a bond card?

I got tagged in IL doing almost 100 and they didn't take my license or do anything weird. This was about a year to a year and a half ago.

Some sort of insurance? Is this in addition to traditional insurance?

If they take your license can you still drive home? What if you get pulled over again? What if you need picture ID? Sounds kinda weird.
Good luck getting that cleared up.
Cheers
CN

They've always done this in Illinois, to my knowledge. They probably don't do it to out-of-state drivers. It could also just be my county that does it. It's a "bond" that you post instead of going to jail. They will take a AAA card as bond instead of a license. I think you can also pay a bond too, but I've never done that with any of the three tickets I've had. If you need picture ID, you have to either use a passport or go get a $5 state ID. You can drive with the ticket, from what I understand. I'm going to see if I can just go to the courthouse and pick my license up because I have to get on a plane in a couple of weeks.

It's a lousy policy but who am I to argue with a cop?

and I just looked it up, apparently you have four choices:

- Surrender driver's license
- Give a valid bond card (AAA, Roadside or Allstate)
- Pay cash bond back at police station
- Use an I-Bond, but go to court.

You can still drive using the ticket as proof of a license.

Crazy. I don't think I have ever heard of a place that would make an in-state resident pay a ticket on the spot, let alone surrender their license, AAA card, library card or whatever. I have heard of places that make you pay your ticket on the spot, if you are an out-of-state resident - and mostly I have heard this from people that got stopped in rural areas of southern states. It kind of makes sense, in that the out-of-state person might not care if they have a warrant in some Alabama county that they will probably never be in again.

Just another reason not to join the Flatlanders

Welcome to the Democratic People's Republic of Chicago. I'll never park on the street there again as long as I live. I'll pay extra to stay in a garage for the SHORT time I'll be visiting. Had more than one encounter with their 'finest'.

"I don't think I have ever heard of a place that would make an in-state resident pay a ticket on the spot." - I know this was the case in Illinois in the mid to late 80's. I was stationed at Naval Training Center Great Lakes for 2 years and I knew many yong sailors who were hauled off to jail because they weren't able to pay the cash bond at the police station.

Scott - what country do you live in?

yea i live in ill and it has always been like that well since i can remember i used to think it was weird when they didn't take your license in a different state. i never knew you could pay right then.

> - Give a valid bond card (AAA, Roadside or Allstate)

I'll chalk this up to an unscrupulous attempt by the above companies to drum up extra business. Conspiracy, I say!

It's been going on since the 50s. Apparently it started in Chicago because people weren't paying their fines, and holding the license as bond was an incentive. It moved outward from there and was eventually adopted state wide. Before I posted I honestly had no idea that Illinois was one of the few places that did this...

Anyway, I gamed the system. Since my license is up for renewal this year, I just went to the DMV right away and got it renewed before the paperwork was submitted and a stop order was placed on my license.

If Ill is anything like Tx you may soon get a letter in the mail demanding that you surrender your license immediately. Or a warrant for arrest. Go pay the fine promptly if you can scrape the cash together. I've been tossed in the lock-up for dodging traffic fines. Even parking tickets get paid as soon as I get them...

Oh I put the check in the mail before I went out to the DMV. Paying the fine wasn't an issue. The guy at the DMV knew I had a ticket too... it was his idea to renew the license. I had originally gone for just a state ID.

Muy Bien!