It doesn't hurt to be mayor.

A police report called Mayor Yvonne Scarlett-Golden "careless" for bumping the fender of a motorist who stopped at the light at Clyde Morris and LPGA boulevards last month, but it didn't mention her license had expired.

Police officials say tickets are discretionary, especially when incidents are minor, and that anyone might have been let off without a fine. State law also allows drivers four months to renew their license, and the mayor had another two weeks to spare.

Scarlett-Golden said the accident was minor -- with no damage reported -- and it didn't warrant a ticket. She was driving only 2 or 3 mph and barely "coasted" into the other car, she said.

Regardless, the passenger in the vehicle she hit complained of a sore neck and took an EVAC ambulance to Halifax Medical Center. Michael O'Hara, 46, of Ormond Beach later needed surgery for herniated discs, said his attorney Jerry Wells.

"The injuries show it was more than a fender-bender," Wells said.

Scarlett-Golden acknowledged she shouldn't have let her license expire and said she has since renewed it, complete with the eye exam required for drivers over 80. State motor vehicle records confirmed it was valid as of Wednesday.

"I forgot about it in the course of my illness," she said.

When her license expired Feb. 1, Scarlett-Golden had just been released from Halifax after a 15-day stay for problems with her bile duct. She missed several meetings during that time and returned to work in mid-February. She recently revealed she has cancer.

During her hospital stay, a Daytona Beach police officer guarded her door around the clock. An officer also accompanied her on a personal trip on a NASCAR jet to Miami in early May.

While tickets are given with discretion, police officers are trained to treat dignitaries like everybody else, said Lou Mercer, retired Daytona Beach commander and executive director of the Emergency Services Institute at the Daytona Beach Community College. Mercer said officers might have given anyone the same break.

"Officers make outstanding decisions 99.9 percent of the time," Mercer said. "And they don't always write tickets, especially on minor accidents. That's not always the best course of action."

Crashes often teach drivers a lesson without being hit with a fine, he said.

cindy.crawford@news-jrnl.com

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