I think your traffic analogy is poor. The results of failure are quite different. In one the pedestrian might die, because physic... in the other a different so

I think your traffic analogy is poor. The results of failure are quite different. In one the pedestrian might die, because physic... in the other a different solution to the transportation problem needs to be found for a temporary period. Driving on a suspended license was not the only choice, rides, public transport, or even simply requesting a close court date. She might even have been able to get some kind of special waiver, until it was sorted out, by taking the time to try to sort it out. Her choice to capitulate in the beginning caused her 20 years of misery and potential affecting her ability to vote. It also made it harder to fix because now there is a "proof" she drives unsafely, who knows what this did to her insurance rates.