Opinion
October 7, 1981.
Motor vehicles — Suspension of motor vehicle operator's license — The Vehicle Code, Act of April 29, 1959, P.L. 58 — Date of offense — Applicability of new statute — Vehicle Code, 75 Pa. C. S. § 1532.
1. When an offense is committed prior to the effective date of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa. C. S. 1532, provisions of The Vehicle Code, Act of April 29, 1959, P.L. 58, govern the suspension of the license of the motor vehicle operator committing that offense although the conviction for that offense and license suspension action did not take place until after the effective date of the new statute. [119-20]
Submitted on briefs, June 4, 1981, to Judges MENCER, CRAIG and MacPHAIL, sitting as a panel of three.
Appeal, No. 947 C.D. 1979, from the Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Cambria County in case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Daniel Potchak, No. 1978-971.
Motor vehicle operator's license suspended by Secretary of Transportation. Licensee appealed to the Court of Common Pleas of Cambria County. Appeal sustained. McWILLIAMS, JR., J. Commonwealth appealed to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. Held: Reversed. Suspension order reinstated.
Harold H. Cramer, Assistant Attorney General, with him Ward T. Williams, Chief Counsel of Transportation, and Harvey Bartle, III, Acting Attorney General, for appellant.
No appearance for appellee.
October 6, 1977, Daniel Potchak (appellee) was convicted on the misdeameanor charge of receiving stolen property, arising from an incident that occurred on March 15, 1977. Since the misdemeanor involved the use of a motor vehicle, the Bureau of Traffic Safety (Bureau) suspended appellee's operating privilege for one year, pursuant to Section 618(a)(2) of The Vehicle Code, Act of April 29, 1959, P.L. 58, as amended, formerly 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 618(a)(2), repealed by the Act of June 17, 1976, P.L. 162. A similar provision is now found at Section 1532(b) of the present Vehicle Code, 75 Pa. C. S. § 1532(b) (effective July 1, 1977), with the modification that only certain enumerated misdemeanor convictions, not involved here, will result in the loss of operating privileges.
On appeal, the court below reversed the suspension and ordered that appellee's operating privilege be reinstated. We reverse.
The Bureau argues that the former Vehicle Code governs the penalty to be imposed in this case, since the misdemeanor was committed prior to the effective date of the present Vehicle Code. We agree. Where the acts giving rise to a loss of operating privileges occurred while the former Vehicle Code was in effect, the provisions of the former Vehicle Code apply, even if the conviction and suspension occurred after the effective date of the present Vehicle Code. Ellis v. Commonwealth, 46 Pa. Commw. 383, 406 A.2d 1180 (1979). This approach gives effect to Section 4 of the present Vehicle Code, 75 Pa. C. S. App: 4, which provides that the suspension powers given to the Bureau under the former Vehicle Code shall be preserved for "any act done" or "liability incurred" while the former Vehicle Code was in effect. Flick v. Commonwealth, 51 Pa. Commw. 623, 415 A.2d 433 (1980); see Hergenrother v. Commonwealth, 45 Pa. Commw. 175, 406 A.2d 575 (1979).
Order reversed and suspension order of Bureau of Traffic Safety reinstated.
ORDER
AND NOW, this 7th day of October, 1981, the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Cambria County, sustaining the appeal of Daniel Potchak, is hereby reversed, and the suspension order of the Bureau of Traffic Safety is reinstated.