You aren't going to be prevented from getting car insurance ever again. You may have to pay more but it's not the end of the world. Trust me, I know.

Let me tell you why - I made an even bigger mistake than you. Actually several bigger mistakes. First I didn't have my insurance on auto pay and I would forget to pay it. Then my insurance was cancelled and I "forgot" to get new insurance (I didn't so much forget as freak out and get so anxious about the siutation I couldn't deal with it and tried to pretend it didn't exist).

Then I rear ended a woman. While driving without insurance. I had to pay for her car repairs and my car repairs out of pocket. I was in my late 20s, my parents were furious and (because I had some accidents before) my Mom actually told me she thought I should stop driving (at the time where I lived I couldn't get to my job without a car, the public transportation sucked). I had a whole break down, panic attack huge thing.

So then I got notices that I had to take mandated classes, pay a fine, and do some other stuff.

Which I didn't do. Again it was so stressful and I was so embarrassed by the whole thing I just pretended it didn't exist. I got a notice that my license was suspended and I didn't tell anyone or deal with it.

THEN, I was running late for work and didn't realize there was a cop with a radar gun and got stopped. For speeding. Behind a school bus. I admitted - my license was supspended. Since I was so close to home the police officer did allow me to drive my car home (instead of having it towed and impounded). But I had to call in and miss work. I had to tell my parents (my mother was even more horrified).

I had to deal with a court summons. Luckily a family friend's son was a lawyer who helped me out some , I didn't go to court, but I had to do community service. I got my license back.

I had to get insurance - the big ones (Allstate, Geico, etc) wouldn't touch me. So I had to find insurance for high risk pool and for my used sedan I was paying nearly $200/month in insurance.

I didn't even learn my lesson - less than a year later I got pulled over for speeding in a school zone. Actually in front of a school and not wearing my seat belt. I paid those tickets promptly and it was embarssing but I dealt with it.

I pay more attention now and am a little paranoid about getting pulled over but so far I obey the traffic laws.