Opinion
Argued June 4, 1979
September 24, 1979.
Motor vehicles — Revocation of motor vehicle operator's license — The Vehicle Code, Act 1959, April 29, P.L. 58 — Delay in revocation.
1. The revocation of a motor vehicle operator's license under The Vehicle Code, Act 1959, April 29, P.L. 58, will not be set aside merely because the revocation was not effected until three and one-half months after the conviction of the licensee for driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. [181]
Argued June 4, 1979, before Judges CRUMLISH, JR., BLATT and DiSALLE, sitting as a panel of three.
Appeal, No. 172 C.D. 1978, from the Order of the Court of Common Pleas of York County in case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Highway Safety v. Edward P. Schwartz, No. 77-S-2090.
Revocation of motor vehicle operator's license by Secretary of Transportation. Licensee appealed to the Court of Common Pleas of York County. Appeal dismissed. BUCKINGHAM, J. Licensee appealed to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. Held: Affirmed.
Laurence T. Himes, Jr., with him Griest Himes, for appellant.
Harold H. Cramer, Assistant Attorney General, with him Robert W. Cunliffe, Deputy Attorney General, and Edward G. Biester, Jr., for appellee.
Edwin Paul Swartz (appellant) was convicted of driving while intoxicated. His conviction was certified to the Secretary of Transportation, and he was notified three and one-half months later by the Bureau of Traffic Safety that his driver's license was being revoked for one year. His appeal of the Bureau's action was dismissed by the Court of Common Pleas of York County.
The appellant asserts that the delay of three and one-half months in the notification of the revocation of the license violates Section 616(a) of the Motor Vehicle Code, 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 616 (a), which requires that, upon notification of conviction, the Secretary revoke a driver's license "forthwith". We have previously addressed this issue in cases where the time lapse was even greater than three and one-half months and have upheld the suspensions concerned. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Traffic Safety v. Passerella, 42 Pa. Commw. 352, 401 A.2d 1 (1979); Department of Transportation, Bureau of Traffic Safety v. Lea, 34 Pa. Commw. 310, 384 A.2d 269 (1978). We must affirm the order of the court below.
Act of April 29, 1959, P.L. 58, as amended, formerly 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 101 et seq., repealed by Act of June 17, 1976, P.L. 162. A similar provision is now found in the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa. C.S. § 1532, but without the word "forthwith".
ORDER
AND NOW, this 24th day of September, 1979, the order of the Court of Common Pleas of York County in the above-captioned matter is hereby affirmed.