You might think an unpaid parking ticket is nothing to worry about, but you would be mistaken. In fact, New York state is one of a growing number of states which provides severe penalties for drivers who decide against paying their parking tickets, even going as far as suspending their license when the tickets go unpaid for too long, or when the debt becomes too high.

For those of you who think that it’s ok for you to ignore your parking tickets since you live “across the river” New Jersey does the same thing.

There is another consideration as well: states are working feverishly to connect their department of motor vehicle information, so if you do something wrong in one state, you can’t just go to the neighboring state to get a fresh start.

What is at stake for these states is millions of dollars in so far unpaid fines. They want their money, especially as the Recession continues to weight down local, national and global economies. Their best efforts to collect these unpaid fines come only when they provide a swift and severe penalty to people who do not pay. If they just let you keep racking up the parking fines you are likely to go on racking up the parking fines. If they suspend your license for it, however, you not only have to pay your parking fines you also get socked with a driver’s license reinstatement fee as an added deterrent.

In the United States today a driver’s license is very important if you work or go to school or just need to get to the grocery store once a week. There is no other way to travel if not by your own transportation. So the threat of losing your license should be enough to convince every driver to pay their parking tickets before they lose their privileges.