In Pennsylvania, when a physician examines a person and diagnoses a disorder or disability that renders the person “incompetent” to operate a motor vehicle, that physician must notify PennDot within ten (10) days of the examination. Common elements that make a person “incompetent” to operate a motor vehicle in Pennsylvania are: seizures, poor eyesight, and drug or alcohol addiction. When PennDot receives that notice from the doctor, it sends a notice to the driver informing him that his driver’s license is being “revoked” due to his condition. In the simplest terms, they are telling him that they think he is too sick or disabled to drive a car, so they won’t let him. Now what to do?
Once a driver receives the recall notice, they have thirty (30) days to appeal PennDot’s decision. Here’s a catch: The driver can’t keep their license pending appeal unless the driver takes and passes a PennDot medical exam (and who wants to do that?) or presents independent competent medical evidence, usually from a doctor. of his own choosing, which can convince a judge that the driver is not dangerous enough to not let the driver keep his license until the appeal is heard. This in itself can require some pretty fancy footwork on the part of the attorney that hopefully the driver has kept to keep his license. Which begs the question, “What does the attorney do for the client in a case like this?”
First of all, the attorney must ensure that the client is able to keep their license pending appeal as mentioned above. Next, the lawyer must stop PennDot from taking him away. This problem very often falls into the lap of a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. This is because, at some point, the driver will have a court hearing on whether this actual alleged medical condition disqualifies the customer from driving safely. Here, the job of the Pa. medical license withdrawal attorney is to: examine PennDot’s medical evidence AND present the client’s own evidence, from their own expert medical professional, and persuade the judge that PennDot has not carried their charge. to prove that the customer suffers from a medical condition that renders them “incompetent” to operate a car. If the lawyer is successful, he has won the money from him and the client goes home with his driver’s license. Good material.