At Lampman Law, we understand the importance of having a valid driver's license. That is why we fight traffic citations and file appeals in Pennsylvania courts to challenge license suspensions. If your license is subject to suspension, call us today at: 570-371-3737. We will advise you on your appellate rights, evaluate your likelihood of success on appeal, and help you fight the license suspension.
If your driver’s license is subject to suspension, PennDOT will mail you a notice with the date the suspension will begin. You must return your physical license to PennDOT Bureau of Driver Licensing by the effective date of suspension. If you fail to return your suspended license (and any duplicates or a DL-16 LC) by the suspension date the Pennsylvania State Police, local police, or a PennDOT official may collect the license from you.
While PennDOT may issue an occupational limited license (OLL) that permits a suspended driver to operate a vehicle to and from work, most Vehicle Code violations that trigger an automatic suspension are ineligible for that relief.
Yes. Pennsylvania is a member of the multistate Driver License Compact (DLC), which adopts the “one driver license” and “one driver record” concepts. This means that if your license is suspended in one state that suspension will be recognized by other states in the DLC. For example, if you driver’s license is suspended in PA, you cannot get a new license in a DLC member state. Further, if you are charged with a DUI, with an accident involving a death, or with a felony in which a car was used in another state, PA will penalize you as if the crime occurred in Pennsylvania. The only states that are not members of the DLC are Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Tennessee.
If you receive notice that your Pennsylvania driver’s license is suspended, you have the right to file an appeal to challenge the legality of the suspension. The appeal must be filed with the Prothonotary in the Court of Common Pleas. The appeal hearing will also be heard in the Court of Common Pleas.
You must act quickly to timely preserve your right to challenge the license suspension because there is only a thirty (30)-day window to file the appeal. Specifically, the appeal must be filed within thirty (30) days of the MAILING DATE of the suspension notice. Since license suspensions are considered a civil administrative law matters, the appeal must be filed with the Prothonotary.
If the Court of Common Pleas decides in PennDOT’s favor, the suspension can be appealed to the Commonwealth Court. The appeal is generally a lengthy and an expensive process. In general, it is more effective to challenge the conviction triggering a license suspension than it is to appeal a license suspension.
To preserve the right to appeal a judgment affirming a license suspension to the Commonwealth Court, a notice of appeal must be filed with the Prothonotary within thirty (30) days of the order ruling in PennDOT’s favor.
