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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
05/20/2024 04:42 PM
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20130&cosponId=10750
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House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: January 10, 2013 09:49 AM
From: Representative Deberah Kula
To: All House members
Subject: Reintroduction of HB 2305-Legislation to Amend Title 75(Vehicles)
 

In the near future, I plan to reintroduce legislation to amend Title 75(Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, related to driving with a suspended license.

Under current law, penalties and grading for the offense of driving with a suspended license are increased for each conviction after the first.

If a person is convicted of a non-DUI related offense that requires his license be suspended and he is caught driving with that suspended license, his penalties and fines are increased for second and subsequent convictions.

Further, if a person is convicted of a DUI related offense and is caught committing another DUI while driving with a suspended license, his fines and penalties will also be increased for second and subsequent convictions.

However, when a person has had to surrender his license for a DUI-related offense and is caught driving with a suspended license but is not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, there is no increased penalty for second or subsequent offenses. The result is a loophole that could allow a person who is driving with a non-DUI related suspended license for the second or third time to be sentenced to a harsher penalty than a person who is caught for the second or third time where his license has been suspended due to a DUI conviction. This legislation seeks to remedy that loophole. The bill would keep all offenses arising from driving with a suspended license within a structure where the more frequently a person commits the offense, the more severe his punishment will be.

It is critical that we do everything we can to discourage people from committing DUI and DUI related offenses. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, there were over twelve thousand alcohol related crashes in our state. We need to give our prosecutors and judges every tool we can to help close this loophole and deter people from DUI convictions in the first place, so that we can make our roads and highways safe for all our citizens.

Introduced as HB329