Back in 04, I purchased a used car, so the plates were expired. I had the temporary registration in the window and it still had 2 weeks on it. There had been an error sending me the tabs, so I was still waiting.
Anyway, cop wrote me a ticket saying it was too close but there was no fine on the ticket, I just needed to take it to the DMV.
This was right when CA was switching over to a new ticket system. So I was given an old ticket and on it it just said it needed to be brought to the DMV, nothing about mailing it in and I was never instructed to do so. I did what the ticket said to do.
Anyway, a year later I get a notice that I've been driving with a suspended license and that I owe $600 in fees and have a misdemeanor on my record for missing my court date. So I schedule a new one, show the judge that I didn't do anything wrong and he just said he's amazed I got a ticket when my registration was still good. He removes all fines and reinstates my license without me having to pay any fines.
BUT in CA it's impossible to have a licenses suspension removed from your record. My insurance went from $150 a month to $318 a month for 2 years. All in All, that fake ticket cost me over $2000.