If You Are Arrested While Driving Drunk In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania You May Be Back On The Road The Same Day After Getting Arrested - Why? Asks This Experienced Philadelphia Car Accident Lawyer
According to a story on a Pittsburgh news station, a loophole was spotlighted noting that although every year more than 50,000 Pennsylvanians get hit by drunk drivers, drunk drivers are allowed to continue to drive after getting arrested. Critics call this a loophole law, a loophole that most other states have closed. The laws of 41 other states require a person arrested for drunk driving to lose his or her driver’s license on the spot, but unfortunately, this is not the case in Pennsylvania. Here you can legally go out, get drunk, get in a crash, hurt or kill someone and be back behind the wheel to drive again legally. For more information on this law, I urge you to contact thepittsburghchannel.com, Channel 4 ABC WTAE and view the most informative and well produced segment.
As an experienced Philadelphia car accident lawyer, I have been concerned about this loophole for many years and have written articles about this state of affairs as I am a hardcore advocate against drunk driving. Unlike Pennsylvania, most states seize a person’s driver’s license when one is arrested for drunk driving. The rate of recidivism is extraordinarily high with people arrested for drunk driving, with such drivers going out repeating the offense and often times catastrophically injuring or killing someone. The Pennsylvania law does not allow the seizure of a driver’s license until there is a conviction. Opponents to the law state that by taking a license prior to conviction, you will be depriving someone of due process because you are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Although as a lawyer I normally believe this should be the case, it is also the case that driving is a privilege and not a right. Tracy Vetovich of Mother’s Against Drunk Drivers states that MADD has been lobbying the legislature for years for a law allowing the police to confiscate a license when someone is arrested for DUI, claiming that driving is a privilege and not a right. Neighboring states of Pennsylvania allow for license seizure after a drunk driving arrest. New York seizes the license until charges are decided by a judge or jury. In Maryland you lose your license for 45 days after the first DUI arrest and in Ohio 90 days and in West Virginia 6 months. Tracy Vetovich of MADD stated that if someone shoots someone or stabs someone they don’t give them the gun or knife back.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident as a result of a drunk driver, please feel free to contact one of the experienced Philadelphia car accident lawyers at Reiff and Bily at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.
