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How can one reinstate their license from a suspension?
Anonymous6 views3 answers
I was notified recently that my license was going to be suspended. I found out that Pennsylvania stated that the suspension is one year for an incident (careless driving) in 2008. I went to court and my insurance paid the medical bills for the individual. I had a probation, but was never told that I had to file a suspension for my license. I was never contacted by PENDOT, until I went to renew my license here in Arizona. I was advised I need to acknowledge by signing a form and my suspension would start. However, nearly 8 years later I am just being informed of this. Is there any way to get resolution on this matter?
The first thing that you should do is contact PENDOT and find out what their procedures are for reinstatement. They should have specific rules and regulations that will help you understand not only the suspension, but also the reinstatement process. Usually reinstatement involves paying a reinstatement fee and showing PENDOT that you have complied with all of the requirements that are set out in the reinstatement process.
In PA, when a license is suspended, the license must be surrendered to PennDOT with a signed form acknowledging the suspension, OR a signed form acknowledging the suspension and certifying that the person does not have a physical license to surrender for whatever reason (lost, never had it, confiscated by police, etc). The suspension does not begin until PennDOT has that paperwork. You would not have been told when you went to court about the suspension because it is not a criminal sanction, but an administrative sanction imposed by PennDOT that would have been mailed to you sometime later. I suggest consulting directly with a PA traffic law attorney to see if there is any basis to challenge the suspension itself, and to request an appeal of the suspension nunc pro tunc (now as then).
In Pennsylvania before your license is suspended PENDOT sends you a letter notifying you of your suspension, such as, a date when the suspension will begin and by when you must turn in your license for the suspension to begin. The letter also tells you that if you disagree with the suspension you have 30 days to file an appeal. You need to contact a lawyer in Pennsylvania to investigate if PENDOT had sent you that type of a letter. Based on the results of the investigation you may be able to file an appeal or an appeal out of time which is called nunc pro tunc against the suspension that you are facing.
