Driving Under Suspension

Driving is critical to most people’s lives – you need a way to get to work, school, see your friends and run errands. When your license has been suspended, you still have those same needs and it is tempting to just get in your car and drive even if you no longer have driving privileges.

However, if you are charged with driving under suspension you face tough penalties that can include an even lengthier suspension of your license as well as costly fines. By hiring an experienced defense attorney, you can have the representation you will need to lessen your punishment.

License Suspension

Your license may have been suspended due to the points you accumulated, traffic convictions or criminal convictions. Some reasons for suspension are:

• Eleven or more points on your driving record
• A serious traffic offense such as leaving the scene of an accident
• DUI
• Conviction for a felony where you used a vehicle
• Homicide by vehicle
• Drag racing on highways
• Reckless driving
• Driving while your license was suspended

What You Need To Know About Driving Under Suspension

In Pennsylvania, a person commits driving under suspension when they are in control of a vehicle or operating a vehicle on Pennsylvania roads while their license was suspended, revoked or cancelled.

You do not have to actually be driving a car to be charged with driving under suspension. The law says you are in control of a vehicle if you are sitting in it and you have the ability to drive it. If you are in the driver’s seat with your key in the ignition, you can be charged even if you haven’t actually started the car.

Penalties

Usually if you are convicted of driving while under suspension, you will be charged with a summary offense. If so, you will probably be fined $200.

However if it’s your second offense, you can be fined up to $1,000 and jailed for up to six months.

If your license was originally suspended due to DUI, you face a fine of $500 and you can go to jail for 60 to 90 days. If you have a blood alcohol level of .02 percent or more when you are pulled over, you face more severe punishment:

• For your first violation, you can draw a mandatory fine of $1,000 and mandatory imprisonment of at least 90 days.
• If it’s your second violation, it will be graded as a misdemeanor of the third degree and it will carry a $2,500 fine and a mandatory six to 12 months in prison.
• A third offense is a misdemeanor of the first degree with a fine of $5,000 and a mandatory two to five years in prison.

In any case of driving under suspension, your license may be suspended for an even lengthier time period than it was originally. In some circumstances, your car can be impounded.

What To Do If The Police Pull You Over

• Do not try to talk your way out of the arrest.
• If the police question you repeatedly, politely refuse to answer their questions and tell then you want a lawyer.

How A Lawyer Will Help

When you are up against a traffic violation, you need an attorney who will stand by you every step of the way, work hard to discredit any evidence – and work with you to determine your best course of action.

Pennsylvania Traffic Violation Law

Traffic violation is described and defined under The Pennsylvania Code under Title 75. Read the code here.