(A) No person whose driver's license, commercial driver's license, temporary instruction permit, or nonresident's operating privilege has been suspended shall operate any motor vehicle upon a public road or highway or any public or private property after the suspension has expired unless the person has complied with all license reinstatement requirements imposed by the court, the bureau of motor vehicles, or another provision of the Ohio Revised Code.
(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of failure to reinstate a license, a misdemeanor of the first degree. The court may impose upon the offender a class 7 suspension of the offender's driver's license, commercial driver's license, temporary instruction permit, probationary driver's license, or nonresident operating privilege from the range specified in R.C. § 4510.02(A)(7).
(R.C. § 4510.21)
(C) It is an affirmative defense to any prosecution brought under this section that the alleged offender drove under suspension, without a valid permit or driver's or commercial driver's license, or in violation of a restriction because of a substantial emergency, and because no other person was reasonably available to drive in response to the emergency.
(R.C. § 4510.04)