Driver’s license suspensions limit people’s ability to get to work, attend other appointments, and care for their families – a situation that can last for months, if not years. This can force people to drive illegally, risking additional suspensions. The bill below will cap certain license suspensions at 90 days, reducing the devastating cycle of suspensions and allowing people to get back on their feet.
HB 162 (Author: White | Sponsor: Zaffirini), Relating to the period of certain driver’s license suspensions. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) must suspend a persons’ driver’s license for certain conduct – including driving with an already suspended or revoked license, as well as other offenses like habitual recklessness or negligence in operating a vehicle, habitually violating traffic laws, and causing an accident resulting in serious personal injury or property damage.
Prior to passage of this bill, if a person did not request a hearing related to a potential driver’s license suspension for the above conduct, the suspension would be set at 90 days. However, if DPS determined that the person’s license was already suspended, the original license suspension was extended for an additional period of time – either the term of the original suspension or one year, whichever was shorter.
This bill strikes the entire provision related to extending the license suspension, capping each new license suspension at 90 days, even for people already driving with a suspended license. – Signed by the Governor; effective on 9/1/2019