CDL & DUI

I have spoken about the concern everyone should have if you have a Chester County DUI and a CDL.  A civil consequence is the disqualification of a Commercial Driver's License.  § 1611 of the Vehicle Code states, "Upon receipt of a report of conviction, the department shall, in addition to any other penalties imposed under this title, disqualify any person from driving a commercial motor vehicle or school vehicle for a period of one year for the first violation."  A Chester County DUI is included into the code as a qualifying for an offense under this code.  

Please note -- you must be aware that having a CDL at the time of the conviction is important.  It may be advisable to get the CDL out of your name and change to a regular operational license, as long as you can and it doesn't impact your occupation.  

Equally important, as your Chester County DUI lawyer should tell you, is that there is no requirement that the DUI occurred while a person was driving as commercial motor vehicle.  So, even if you are driving home on a weekend after a party, you will face a 1-year license suspension regardless of the purpose of your driving if you have a CDL.  Even if you get ARD, you will not have any chance to lessen the impact.  

CDL & Refusal in Chester

If you are facing a second DUI, you are facing a lifetime suspension of your CDL.  So, if you are twice convicted of a DUI or you refused a chemical test twice, your commercial driving privilege is at risk of being disqualifed for life.  It is important to note that the CDL holder must have been convcited of two or more offenses set forth in 75 Pa.C.S. 1611(a) that have been committed after the effective date of Chapter 16 of the Vehicle Code, which is November 1, 1990.  

A pickle of a case happens when there is a DUI conviction combined with a chemical test refusal reported under 75 Pa.C.S. 1613.  It is necessary that the conviction and refusal arise from "two or more separate and distinct incidents."  Thus, if a CDL holder is convicted of DUI and refuses to submit to chemical testing as required under the law with respect to the DUI offense, those two occurrences do not mandate a lifetime CDL disaqualification as they do not arise from "separate and distinct" incidents.  This is a huge distinction that your lawyer in Chester County better know.