Fun with PA DOT officer ending in putting me out of service + $1200 in fines

[Demoh]

Ok so there have been some developments and a whole lot of learning going on lately. So dealing with attorneys: The "network" attorneys just want to take your money and keep calling you to sign up, didnt feel right so I sought out actual small firms which deal with CDL traffic cases. What I found with speaking with an actual attorney directly in PA seemed to bear a lot more fruit.

According to that attorney and PA law, the violations I received are not point bearing in PA. Keywords being "in PA"... Title 75 Section 1535 lists offences that have points and Section 4107 violations are not in that list. The offences I was cited for were 4107 B.1, 4107 B2, and 4107 B2.1. Which those PA codes reference CFR codes.

Here is where it gets confusing which I am still tracking down information. Does FL recognize citations that were in PA as no points assessed based on the PA code or does FL view the referenced CFR code and choose to asses points based on that? I havent gotten as far as tracking down the FL code references to see whether or not those would be point worthy. The CFR codes were 395.8 A, 391.41 AF, 390.21 B, and 393.43.

Furthermore, What are CSA points? These infractions generate CSA points which is why Ive been worried but I havent been able to determine if CSA points are a trucker only thing or if they affect my Class E FL license.

Im still fighting it, waiting to hear when my court date is, and continuing my quest. Just now it looks like Ill be doing this solo and not lawyering up. Had I not been pulled over on the side of the road this never would have happened, but now I know never to give any officer "probable cause" because these arent primary offenses. Either way I wasnt commercial. But I did learn to not cough up any paperwork.

On a sidenote, 2 nights ago there was a uniformed officer in line before me for dinner, I still had no problem paying for his meal as I do whenever I can. Regardless of a few bad incidents with the law (all me being innocent) it does not change my view that there are a lot of good cops out there and I still have their back.

 

[aleigh]

It's a state by state thing. In FL, out of state violations translate to points on your record the last time I checked. Other states don't transfer the points, it just depends. The key is not whether the offense has points in PA, but whether the CORRESPONDING offense does in FL. You will take however many points that offense generates in FL by their law, regardless of PA.

https://www.flhsmv.gov/driver-licenses-id-cards/driver-license-suspensions-revocations/points-point-suspensions/

 

[HvyEng]

Hello Demoh,

CSA points are a commercial DOT thing that translates to points for the driver and their employer. Basically, whether you are a CDL or not, if you are driving commercially on a FMCA program CSA points will determine both whether you can drive (if you have too many) and how often your employer is audited (if they have too many). If you weren't operating commercially on a DOT program, they won't mean anything to you. Basically no DOT number = nowhere for the CSA points to go.

https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/

As far as I know it won't affect your class E at all.

 

[Demoh]

It's a state by state thing. In FL, out of state violations translate to points on your record the last time I checked. Other states don't transfer the points, it just depends. The key is not whether the offense has points in PA, but whether the CORRESPONDING offense does in FL. You will take however many points that offense generates in FL by their law, regardless of PA.
https://www.flhsmv.gov/driver-licenses-id-cards/driver-license-suspensions-revocations/points-point-suspensions/

Which is exactly why I am worried.... As I travel down the rabbit hole I am blocking the entrances that I can and going deeper into the ones I cant block.

And I dont know how I missed this page. I saw this page but I didnt see the link for the point value table. Now to figure out how it translates.

 

[Demoh]

Hello Demoh,

CSA points are a commercial DOT thing that translates to points for the driver and their employer. Basically, whether you are a CDL or not, if you are driving commercially on a FMCA program CSA points will determine both whether you can drive (if you have too many) and how often your employer is audited (if they have too many). If you weren't operating commercially on a DOT program, they won't mean anything to you. Basically no DOT number = nowhere for the CSA points to go.

https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/

As far as I know it won't affect your class E at all.

Thats along the lines for what I suspected but whenever I searched to see if they mattered to me I came up empty. I figured it would be one of those things where "people who it applies to know how it works and people who it doesnt apply to have no idea"

 

[TechnoWeenie]

CFR = code of federal regulations

Interesting, that they cited you with violating federal law..