Opinion
Argued September 8, 1980
October 20, 1980.
Motor vehicles — Suspension of motor vehicle operator's license — Points — Vehicle Code, 75 Pa. C. S. § 1539 — Time of violation — Time of special examination.
1. Under provisions of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa. C. S. § 1539, points assessed for traffic violations vest and are properly assessed at the time of the violation, and a suspension resulting from an accumulation of eleven points is not affected or avoided by the fact that a special examination was passed by the licensee subsequent to the point assessment but prior to the suspension order. [312]
Argued September 8, 1980, before President Judge CRUMLISH and Judges MacPHAIL and WILLIAMS, JR., sitting as a panel of three.
Appeal, No. 284 C.D. 1978, from the Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County in case of In Re: James E. Hafer, Jr., No. 33 January Term, 1978.
Suspension of motor vehicle operator's license by Secretary of Transportation. Licensee appealed to the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County. Appeal sustained. BERTOLET, J., specially presiding. Commonwealth appealed to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. Held: Reversed.
Harold H. Cramer, Assistant Attorney General, with him Robert W. Cunliffe, Deputy Attorney General, and Edward G. Biester, Jr., Attorney General, for appellant.
No appearance for the appellee.
This is another in a long line of motor vehicle point system cases. The issues for review are (1) whether points vest at the time of violation and (2) does the successful completion of a special driver's examination prior to an ordered suspension have any effect upon the already vested points.
On September 12, 1977, the appellee was convicted of a motor vehicle violation that occurred on September 3, 1977. As of that violation date, the appellee had under Section 1539(a) of the Vehicle Code, accumulated the requisite number of points (11) to warrant the suspension of his driving privileges.
Section 1539 (a) of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa. C. S. § 1539(a).
Section 1539(a) of the Vehicle Code states:
(a) General Rule — When any person's record shows an accumulation of 11 points or more, the department shall suspend the operating privilege of the person. . . .
It is now the well settled interpretation of Section 1539(a) that points vest and are assessed at the time of the violation rather than at the time of the conviction as was true under the "old" Vehicle Code.
Department of Transportation, Bureau of Traffic Safety v. Sherwood, 51 Pa. Commw. 117, 414 A.2d 151 (1980), and Department of Transportation, Bureau of Traffic Safety v. Sheets, 49 Pa. Commw. 175, 410 A.2d 1295 (1980).
See Section 619.1 (b) of The Vehicle Code, Act of April 29, 1959, P.L. 58, as amended, 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 619.1, repealed by the Act of June 17, 1976, P.L. 162.
The subsequent passing of a special examination on November 29, 1977, after the September 3, 1977 violation but before the December 8, 1977 suspension date does not affect this suspension.
Such test is statutorily required by Section 1538(a) of the Vehicle Code.
The decisions of this Court in Department of Transportation, Bureau of Traffic Safety v. Sherwood and Department of Transportation, Bureau of Traffic Safety v. Sheets, supra n. 3, are controlling.
Order reversed.
ORDER
The order of the Court of Common Pleas, Civil Division of Berks County, dated January 24, 1978, is hereby reversed.