Under 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1519, the Department of Transportation must recall the operating privilege of any person who is incompetent to drive a motor vehicle. The recall is for an indefinite period until satisfactory evidence establishes that the person is competent to drive. The department must suspend the operating privileges of any person who refuses or fails to comply with the requirements of the incompetency statute until the person complies in the person's competency to drive is established. This person/driver has the right to be represented by a Lehigh County criminal defense lawyer.
If the Department has cause to believe that a licensed driver or applicant may not be physically or mentally qualified to be licensed, the department may require the applicant or driver to undergo one or more examinations in order to determine the competency of the person to drive. In order to make this determination, the department may require the person to be examined by a physician or a licensed psychologist designated by the department, or may require the person to undergo an examination by a physician or a licensed psychologist of the person's choice (at the expense of the individual).
Vision qualifications may be determined by an optometrist or ophthalmologist. If the department designates the physician or licensed psychologist, the licensed driver or applicant may, in addition, forward a written report to the department by a physician or a licensed psychologist of the drivers or applicants choice. The department is required to appoint one or more qualified persons to consider all medical reports and testimony in order to determine the competency of the driver to drive.
Reports received by the department for the purpose of assisting it in determining whether a person is qualified to be licensed, and reports of examinations author rise to under Section 1519, or for the confidential use of the department and may not be divulged to any person or used as evidence in any trial, except that the reports and statistics and evaluations used by the department and determining whether a person should be required to be examined must be admitted in proceedings under section 1550. Appeals of a recall or suspension under this provision are governed by 75 Pa.C.S.A. §1550, and judicial review is limited to whether the person is competent to drive in accordance with the provisions of the regulations promulgated under 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1517. A physician's medical report can be sufficient by itself to satisfy the department's burden of proving that a driver suffered from a medical condition that rendered him or her incapable of safely operating a motor vehicle. The department is not required to present medical testimony in addition to the report.