October 20th, 2018 PennDOT Record Corrections – Remember This Date
Big changes coming to Pennsylvania licensing policy this October. Legislators changed the law in 2017 to be effective October 20th – this new law changes how PennDOT will handle crediting suspension time going forward.
10/20/2018 – license suspension procedure after October 20th; adds a rebuttable presumption of knowledge of the suspension. It is now believed that the person being suspended after October 20th, 2018 knows they are suspended and does not need to “prove” they know of the suspension. This will allow PennDOT to start the suspension clock (giving credit) on the conviction date of the violation causing the PA Suspension based on the conviction of the court.
Currently, an individual’s license suspension does not become effective until the person surrenders his driver’s license to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). This system has created a number of logistical issues related to the imposition of the suspension. Moreover, because PennDOT does not process the suspension until it has received notice from the court, individuals can surrender their licenses to the court and get a new license the same day. The fixes outlined below change the suspension process. The legislation also adds a rebuttable presumption of knowledge of the suspension for the purposes of prosecuting an individual who is driving while suspended.
* License suspensions now become effective upon notice from PennDOT.
* Removes provision requiring an individual to surrender his license upon conviction and replaces it with
a notice requirement and presumption of knowledge.
* The court is now required to inform the individual that the suspension will become effective
within 60 days.
* The new section creates a rebuttable presumption of knowledge of the suspension for the
purposes of prosecuting an individual under Section 1543 (driving while suspended). (I didn’t know is not an excuse)
* Police officers and other state officials are authorized to confiscate any license that has been revoked, suspended, canceled,
or disqualified.
Effective: October 20, 2018
These changes will allow a greater chance to get PennDOT to issue credit if your record is still affected by the prior system. So far we’ve seen multiple issues that cause the credit to get “hung up” and continue to be a burden preventing full license restoration. We can help to ensure your record adjusted properly and petition PennDOT to correct any record that experiences a hangup.
PA License Suspension credit has been a major issue causing the Suspension Snowball that has been so pervasive
