Pennsylvania DOT Laws & Licensing — 16 Questions with Answers

A Pennsylvania junior license holder may not drive from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. unless a parent, guardian, or spouse 18 or older is in the car, or the driver is traveling for work, a volunteer fire company, or public or charitable service and carries a signed affidavit.

The required minimum for bodily injury liability is $15,000 per person, so the policy must pay at least that much when one person is hurt or killed in a crash you cause. A $10,000 limit falls short, while $25,000 goes beyond what is required for one person.

Pennsylvania treats carrying a fake ID as an offense in its own right, so a person under 21 who is convicted can be fined whether or not they were driving and whether or not they had been drinking.

Before the drive begins, the examiner makes sure the vehicle is safe and properly equipped. An unsafe vehicle, missing seat belts, or a console or other equipment that keeps the examiner from the brake pedal can each end the test before it starts.

Pennsylvania scales DUI penalties to the driver's BAC. A first offense in the top tier, or one involving a controlled substance, means at least 12 months without a license, while many first offenders in the lowest tier face no required suspension and may enter the ARD program instead.

Someone who settles in Pennsylvania has 20 days to put a vehicle from another state under Pennsylvania registration; keeping the old plates on it past that point is illegal.

Pennsylvania requires two steps when you damage an unattended vehicle and cannot reach its owner: securely leave a written note with your information on that vehicle, and promptly notify the police. Doing only one of them does not satisfy the law.

One standard drink equals either 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits; each holds about the same amount of alcohol. Choosing beer or wine over liquor does not make you any less impaired.

Alcohol makes it hard to hold a lane, judge speed, and react smoothly, so impaired drivers often weave, drive unusually slowly, and brake or stop without warning. If you notice these signs, keep well back and report the driver to police when it is safe.

Junior license holders in Pennsylvania may not drive from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. unless accompanied by a parent, guardian, or spouse aged 18 or over, or unless the trip is for work, a volunteer fire company, or public or charitable service and they have a signed affidavit with them.

Besides fines, loss of the license and possible jail time, a DUI conviction commonly comes with an order to complete an alcohol education program such as an Alcohol Highway Safety School. A mere warning, an unrelated riding course or a token fine does not reflect how drunk driving is punished.

Pennsylvania requires a written crash report when a vehicle involved can no longer be driven, typically because it has to be towed, or when anyone is hurt or killed. The dollar amount of the damage alone does not decide it.

Pennsylvania gives drivers 15 days after a move to update their address with PennDOT, the state agency that issues driver's licenses.

Drivers under 21 are held to a zero-tolerance rule: a reading of 0.02% or more brings penalties such as license suspension, far below the 0.08% adult limit. Even a single drink can bring a young driver close to that level, so the only safe plan is not to drink before driving.

Under implied consent, getting a license and driving on public roads count as advance agreement to chemical testing, such as a breath test, when you are arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. Refusing the test usually brings its own penalties, including loss of your license.

Drivers who are 21 or older break the law once their BAC hits 0.08%. Anyone under 21 is held to a zero-tolerance limit far below that, so 0.08% is not their cutoff, and 0.06% is not the standard adult limit.