PENALTIES FOR DRIVING WHILE OPERATING PRIVILEGES
ARE SUSPENDED OR REVOKED
Not Related to DUI or DAI
Under 75 Pa.C.S.A. 1543 (a) any person who drives a motor vehicle on a highway in Pennsylvania while operating privileges have been suspended, revoked, or cancelled; and before the operating privilege has been restored, is guilty of a summary offense and upon a 1st conviction will be sentenced to pay a fine of $200.
However, under 75 Pa.C.S.A. 6503 a mandatory fine of not less than $200 nor more than $1,000, or imprisonment for not more than 6 months, or both, will be imposed for a 2nd or subsequent offense for driving while operating privileges suspended or revoked, or racing on highways, fleeing or attempting to elude police, driving without lights to avoid identification or arrest, or filing false reports.
Significantly, any person convicted of a 6th or subsequent offense of driving while operating privileges suspended or revoked or canceled will be sentenced to a mandatory fine of not less than $1,000 and mandatory imprisonment of not less than 30 days nor more than 6 months.
Related to DUI or DAI
Any person convicted of driving a vehicle on a highway in Pennsylvania while operating privileges have been suspended or revoked because of a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) or Driving After Imbibing (DAI) conviction in Pennsylvania; or a conviction for a "substantially similar" offense to DUI or DAI in another state; or refusing to submit to a chemical test of breath or blood to determine alcoholic content or the presence of a controlled substance, will be sentenced to pay a fine of $500 and undergo imprisonment for not less than 60 nor more than 90 days depending upon the level of alcohol or presence of controlled substances.
- When the amount of alcohol by weight in blood is equal to or greater than .02% at the time of testing, or any amount of Schedule I or non-prescribed Scheduled II or III controlled substance is present in blood, a 1st conviction will be a summary offense requiring a mandatory fine of $1,000 and mandatory imprisonment for not less than 90 days.
- A 2nd violation is graded as a Misdemeanor of the Third Degree for which a conviction will result in a mandatory sentence that includes a fine of $2,500 and mandatory imprisonment for not less than 6 months nor more than 12 months.
- A 3rd or subsequent violation is graded as a Misdemeanor of the First Degree for which a conviction will result in a mandatory sentence that includes a fine of $5,000 and imprisonment for not less than 2 years nor more than 5 years.
