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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-1606 CIVILDANIEL F. GAHRES, Appellant VS. COM. OF PENNSYLVANIA, DEPARTMENT OF TRANS., BUREAU OF MOTOR VEHICLES, Appellee IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 02-1606 CIVIL CIVIL ACTION - LAW IN RE: APPEAL FROM MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION SUSPENSION BEFORE HESS, J. OPINION AND ORDER Daniel F. Gahres (Appellant) has appealed the suspension of his motor vehicle registration for a period of three months by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The facts of the case are as follows: In November 2001, appellant was residing at an address in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. ~ Between leaving his residence in Ligonier and relocating to Boiling Springs, Cumberland County,2 in January 2002 appellant spent some time in the Boston, Massachusetts area. On January 3, 2002, Mr. Gahres began participating in a training course for his new job as a wilderness course instructor for Tressler Care Wilderness Services (Tressler) located in Boiling Springs. His automobile insurance with Progressive Halcyon Insurance Company (Progressive) for his 1990 Toyota sedan was terminated on January 6, 2002, apparently because he did not pay a premium billed by Progressive while he was between addresses. Mr. Gahres participated in a Wilderness First Responder course for his job with Tressler between January 17 and January 27, 2002. On January 22, 2002, appellant acquired a Pennsylvania Driver's License and in doing so provided the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing with his RD1 Box 16, Ligonier, Pennsylvania 15658. P.O. Box 10, 571 Mountain Road, Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania 17007-0010. 02-1606 CRIMINAL new address in Boiling Springs. He then began working for Tressler in early February 2002.3 On February 2, 2002, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Bureau of Motor Vehicles sent a notice to appellant at his old address in Ligonier notifying him that it had received notice that his automobile insurance through Progressive had been terminated and requesting 4 verification of his new insurance coverage. On March 8, 2002, appellant returned to Boiling Springs after leading a thirty-five-day backpacking course through the Pennsylvania wilderness. Subsequently, he received the notice sent to Ligonier about his lack of insurance and obtained automobile insurance from Progressive on March 11, 2002. However, a period of more than thirty-one days had elapsed between the termination of the original insurance coverage and the start of the new policy. The appellant also testified that he operated his vehicle on the Tressler property during the gap in insurance coverage between the two policies. On March 26, 2002, another notice was sent by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to appellant at his current Boiling Springs address notifying him that his Pennsylvania motor vehicle registration privilege was to be suspended for a period of three months beginning April 30, 2002 pursuant to 75 Pa.C.S. § 1786(d). A hearing was held before this court on June 10, 2002, to address the appellant's appeal from this suspension. DISCUSSION Pursuant to Section 1786(a) of Pennsylvania's Vehicle Code, every motor vehicle of the type required to be registered, which is operated or currently registered, is required to be covered by financial responsibility. Section 1786(d) further provides that upon a determination by the Department of Transportation that the required financial responsibility was not secured for a particular vehicle, the Department "[s]hall suspend the registration of [that] vehicle for a period of three months." 75 Pa.C.S. § 1786(d). ~ Appellant's statement under oath on June 10, 2002 was that he began working on February 1, 2002. However, according to a letter from his employer (identified as Defendant's Exhibit 1), Appellant began instructing the wilderness course on February 4, 2002. 4 Incredibly, his change of address with one bureau of the Department of Transportation did not operate to change his address with another bureau of the same Department. 2 02-1606 CRIMINAL The Department of Transportation bears the initial burden of showing that a lapse in the required financial responsibility has occurred. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing v. Porter, 157 Pa. Cmwlth. 645, 649, 630 A.2d 945, 946-47 (1993). To satisfy this burden the Department of Transportation must establish only that: (1) the vehicle in question is of a type required to be registered in the Commonwealth; and (2) the required automobile liability insurance has been cancelled or terminated. Id. (quoting Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing v. Riley, 150 Pa. Cmwlth. 259, 615 A.2d 905 (1992)). There is no requirement in Section 1786(d) that the Department of Transportation establish that the person was at fault or that the person intended to operate the vehicle without insurance. Stone v. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing, 166 Pa. Cmwlth. 643,645-46, 647 A.2d 287, 288 (1994). The Department of Transportation also need not prove that the insured actually received notice of the termination of his/her insurance. Id. In the instant case, the Department met its required burden through the introduction of certified documents showing that appellant's vehicle is the type required to be registered and that appellant's insurance carrier had terminated the insurance on the vehicle on January 6, 2002. Having satisfied this burden of proof, the burden shifts to appellant to prove the applicability of any exceptions to the suspension outlined in Section 1786(d)(1-3). Unfortunately, appellant cannot establish the applicability of any of these exceptions. We say unfortunately because we found the appellant forthcoming and his testimony credible and discerned no nefarious purpose in his reluctance to insure a vehicle which he was not operating on the highway. Section 1786(d)(1) applies to registrants who can prove that their insurance coverage lapse was for a period of less than thirty-one (31) days and that the registrant neither operated nor permitted the operation of the vehicle during the lapse in financial responsibility. Appellant acknowledged in his testimony that the lapse in insurance coverage of his vehicle was for a period of more than thirty-one days and that he operated the vehicle, albeit on private property, during the lapse in financial responsibility. Thus, appellant cannot avail himself of 02-1606 CRIMINAL this statutory exception to Section 1786 of the Vehicle Code.5 ORDER AND NOW, this day of July, 2002, the appeal of Daniel F. Gahres from the suspension of motor vehicle registration is DENIED. BY THE COURT, Terrence M. Edwards, Esquire For PennDOT Daniel F. Gahres, Pro Se :rlm Kevin A. Hess, J. s Section 1786(d)(2) applies when the registrant is a member of the armed services of the United States and the lapse in financial responsibility occurs while the registrant is on duty and the vehicle is not operated during the lapse in insurance coverage. There is no evidence in the record to show that Appellant is a member of the armed services of the United States. Section 1786(d)(3) applies when the insurance coverage has terminated or lapsed simultaneously with or subsequent to the expiration of a seasonal registration. There is no evidence in the record to show that Appellant's insurance coverage terminated with or subsequent to the expiration of a seasonal registration. 4 DANIEL F. GAHRES, Appellam VS. COM. OF PENNSYLVANIA, DEPARTMENT OF TRANS., BUREAU OF MOTOR VEHICLES, Appellee IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 02-1606 CIVIL CIVIL ACTION - LAW IN RE: APPEAL FROM MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION SUSPENSION BEFORE HESS, J. ORDER AND NOW, this day of July, 2002, the appeal of Daniel F. Gahres from the suspension of motor vehicle registration is DENIED. BY THE COURT, Terrence M. Edwards, Esquire For PennDOT Daniel F. Gahres, Pro Se :rlm Kevin A. Hess, J.