Every year, drivers in the Charlotte area have their licenses suspended and may not even know about it.

And if a person if driving with a suspended license is pulled over for another offense, he or she can face a serious ticket or even be arrested.

Eyewitness News discovered how it happens from a DMV error or a driver mistake.

After getting a DWI about eight years ago, David Gaskin was required to put a lock on his ignition. He had to blow into it to drive. He said he never takes a minute behind the wheel for granted.

"It was the last offense I ever committed," Gaskin said. "I really learned a lesson."

But in February of 2011, he got a warning letter from the DMV. It said his license would be suspended because of what he says was a machine malfunction.

He could avoid that, though, by sending back a letter in 10 days, asking for a hearing. So he did.

"I didn't procrastinate on sending it in," he said. "I sent it in immediately." 

Gaskin expected a court date eventually, but it was the last thing on his mind when he got into a fender-bender this February, called police to document it, and an officer told him his license had been under suspension for a year.

"I wanted to cry but I didn't," he said. "I was completely boggled. Did not know why this was happening."

There are about 1.55 million drivers licenses in the Charlotte area and in 2011, there were 109,802 license suspensions in the same region. Across North Carolina, the DMV suspended 892,239 licenses in 2011.

Some of those drivers, like Gaskin, didn't even know about it.

Gaskin's attorney, Adam Seifer, has practiced traffic law in his firm, SeiferFlatow, for about nine years. He said sometimes, like in Gaskin's case, it's an error by the DMV.

"They had just dropped the ball," he said. "They did not set the day for a hearing and they did not stop the revocation."

DMV's Western Region Chief Hearing Officer Patrick Clancy admits that.

"So the DMV made a mistake?" Eyewitness News asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," he said.

But in many cases where drivers don't know about the suspension, it's their own fault.

More than half a dozen attorneys told Eyewitness News that often, those drivers don't get that warning letter because their correct address isn't on file.

"It's critical to make sure that the DMV has your updated mailing address," Clancy said.

It's so critical, in fact, that the DMV is actually changing its website to make it easier for people to update online, which is required within 60 days of any move. Currently, the address update feature is within the link for ordering a new license:  https://edmv-ddl.dot.state.nc.us/DuplicateDriverLicense/Home

"Every citizen is supposed to know the law, but obviously there's a lot of laws out there," Clancy said.

And because of cases like Gaskin's, DMV officials say they are working to improve the computer system to track responses like his -- what they call a "number 1 priority."

Still, it's little comfort to Gaskin, who couldn't drive or work for a week and had to hire an attorney to get back his license.

"It was just very frustrating," he said.

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