ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — A St. Johns County mother is fighting to regain her driver’s license after a legal loophole left her without it for three years, all because of how Florida interprets a traffic case from another state. 

Lori Carter says she was involved in a fatal car accident in Georgia in 2020. She rear-ended another vehicle, which caused her to cross into oncoming traffic, where an 86-year-old man on a motorcycle struck her vehicle and later died.

Carter had no previous traffic violations in Georgia. She came to the Ask Anthony team for help on getting her driver’s license back. 

“You’ve never had a traffic ticket or anything in Georgia?” Anthony Austin asked.

“I’ve not had a speeding ticket, nothing like that,” Carter said.

She was charged in Georgia with homicide by motor vehicle in the second degree and failure to maintain lane, both misdemeanors under that state’s laws. Carter pleaded guilty under Georgia’s First Offender Act and was told she would be eligible to drive again in just 120 days.

But that all changed when she moved to Florida before the conviction was finalized.

According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, her Georgia misdemeanor is treated as a felony under Florida law, specifically, as vehicular manslaughter. State statutes require a minimum three-year license revocation for any out-of-state conviction involving a vehicle that results in death.

“I went to get my driver’s license and she was like… ‘I’m surprised you’re out,’ and I was like, ‘excuse me?’ And then I realized she meant prison,” Carter said. “I said, ‘no ma’am, I don’t have a felony,’ and I tried to explain it to her… I said I have a misdemeanor. She basically said we don’t have that in Florida and you’re not driving anywhere for three years.”

Jacksonville attorney Gene Nichols says Carter’s case highlights a unique and difficult legal gap between states.

“Florida gave her the punishment for the next closest thing, which was a homicide involving driving and all we have from a criminal standpoint and then a license standpoint is the vehicular homicide, which is why she received what she did,” Nichols said.

He says Carter has two options: Attempt to get Georgia to expunge or set aside the charge or apply for a hardship license in Florida.

“The first option, which is probably not much of an option, is to have Georgia set aside, delete, cancel, get rid of what her initial charge was there,” Nichols said. “Without that happening… the only other choice is for her to go to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles here and ask them for what we typically call a hardship license or a hardship permit.”

Carter, a single mother, has been relying on ride-share services and neighbors to get around. She recently started a new job, but says not having a license is still holding her back.

“Yeah, it’s been extremely difficult. I’ve been defamed. I mean, I have to tell the story over and over and over and explain that I’m not a felon over and over,” she said.

Carter becomes eligible to apply for a hardship license in July, but says she’s worried the state could take months to decide. And even then, approval is not guaranteed.

The Ask Anthony team will continue to follow her case and provide updates as they become available.