What the Fuck?

So I get some mail from the DMV today. Having had no interaction (or reason to interact) with the DMV for several months no, I had no idea what could possibly be in the envelope. Turns out, it was a notice that my license had been suspended. The information on the sheet was pretty sparse: my license was suspended for failing to make a court appearance. A court appearance for a violation in January. What the fuck?

Baffled, I called the Queensbury town court to get some more details - I may not be the most organized person, but I think I'd remember blowing off a court appearance. As it happens, this court appearance was for, of all god damned things, my headlight being out. Now, I do remember being pulled over for having a headlight out some time ago. I remember the cop telling me that I had to get it fixed, take it to a garage and get some sort of verification that it was fixed within 24 hours or so. I remember missing that deadline and fixing the light at home. Now, given that it was 9 fucking months ago, my memory is a little hazy - but I do also recall pleading guilty and paying my fine through the mail. Why would I waste a day going to court for a blown headlight?

How ridiculous. I feel like some mistake has been made here, but this all happened so long ago, who the fuck knows at this point? If I did miss a court date over this nonsense, I'd expect to wait maybe a month, maybe even 2 before hearing something. But now, 9 months later without warning, my license is suddenly gone?

Now, supposing that I was going to heed this law and not drive, what the hell would I do then? I go into work at 2am, from 20 minutes out. Who the hell would I catch a ride with? Would I take a cab? A cab would honestly cost more than I make in my 5-hour night. Presumably, I'd have to set up a new court date or plead guilty - who knows how long the turnaround on that would be. Am I going to have to wait 9 months before I get my license back? I'm just going to go directly to the court tomorrow, see if I can't expedite this in some way. I'm sure I'll have to wait for the judge to get anything done, which is just absolutely preposterous.

I just read this article from some law firm about how they go pretty hard on people who drive with suspended licenses these days. I can just imagine now, getting pulled over for something random, getting cuffed and fingerprinted because of an unpaid ticket for a blown headlight. Seriously. What the fuck.