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Gay asks: My niece’s driver’s license has been expired for four years. I’m aware she left the state to pursue employment elsewhere but upon her return we’ve discovered her license has been expired since COVID 2020. She stated when her license was up for renewal, that so much confusion with COVID and being out of state, it just slipped her mind. Now she’s back home four years later and wanting her license renewed. What can she do to renew a license?

Answer: In the state of Texas you have up to two years to renew an expired driver’s license until your license and driving privileges are null and void. If your niece’s license expired in 2020, she is out of the grace period and must reapply for a new license. She must retake the written and skills test, which is the actual driving portion and successfully pass to receive a new Texas driver’s license. So technically your niece doesn’t have an expired drivers license. She doesn’t have a license at all. Make sure she’s NOT driving until she’s reissued a new driver’s license by the state of Texas!

James asks: I observed something that occurred a couple weeks ago during a funeral procession. I observed a police vehicle hold up the traffic at an intersection, then the police officer left the intersection and my light turned green and the vehicles in the funeral procession continued to run the red light after the officer left the intersection. Is such disregard to traffic signals permissible during a funeral procession in Texas?

Answer: Police officers statewide provide escorts for families who are experiencing a very difficult moment in their life. In order to make the transition smoother for the family and friends, police officers stop traffic at intersections and allow the funeral procession to proceed through and stay together, so they get a chance to bury their deceased loved one together. I’m sure we are all aware once an officer stops all traffic at an intersection, ALL directions of traffic that the officer is stopping must stop. But once the officer leaves the intersection and the intersection light turns red, the funeral procession vehicles are no longer protected. The other vehicles were being respectful to allow the remaining procession vehicles to proceed through the red light, but keep in mind just because someone is a part of a funeral procession, if the traffic signal is not overtaken by a police officer, the following procession is NOT permitted to disregard a red traffic signal.

Cynthia asks: My husband and I were in our car. He was driving and stopped at a red light behind another vehicle. The first car paused before entering the intersection. By the time it started to move, the light was yellow. Well my husband decided to speed up and go through a now RED light. He justifies his action because of the vehicle making him run the red light and said it would be understood if a police officer would stop him. I was convinced I was correct but now listening to all of his remarks about the red light, I must admit I’m not certain anymore. Was my husband’s actions correct pertaining to the red light?

Answer: Thanks for your kind words. Connecting with our community, that’s our mission. Your husband should be grateful for you bringing this issue to his attention, because you are 100 percent correct. Your husband did run the red light at the intersection, where the vehicle ahead stalled traffic and the signal turned red again. If a vehicle in front of you hesitates at a traffic signal intersection causing the light to cycle back to red, no one has the right to go through a red light because they missed a turn. That’s simply disregarding a red light or running a red light, which is illegal in the state of Texas.

Join Me, Officer Rickey Antoine and the crew of Stephen “Buzzard Boots” Mosley, Lelo “mouth of Hwy 69/73” I. Washington and Tejas “Lil Man” Morning Star for Ask A Cop live on KSAP 96.9 FM, The Breeze radio station every Tuesday from 1 to 3 p.m. Tune in via the Internet at ksapthebreeze.org. Call in questions live at 409-982-0247. Email questions to rickey.antoine@portarthurtx.gov, call 409-983-8673 for voice mail or mail them to 645 4th Street, Port Arthur, Texas, 77640. If you happen to see me in public, you can always approach and “Ask A Cop!”