DMV Victory at a Lack of Skill Hearing at the Van Nuys Driver Safety Office

Case History: California Drivers Advocates was retained to represent a client whose driver license had been arbitrarily suspended by the California Department of Motor Vehicles following a non-injury traffic collision.

Our 70 year old client is a retired Engineer who spends many of his days caring for his grandchildren.

In November 2016, our client was driving his 10 year old grandson to school when he was involved in a traffic accident.  He was sitting in a “turn around” in front of the elementary school waiting for a parking space to open up so he could off-load his grandson. When a parking space became available, he removed his foot from the brake pedal and gently applied pressure to the accelerator.  There was a momentary delay in response and then suddenly the car accelerated out of control.  According to our Client, he applied firm pressure to the brake pedal but the car simply would not stop.

The best our Client could do was to steer the car between parked cars, up over a curb and  into a soccer field.  Faced with a field full of young children, our Client made the decision to intentionally collide with an outbuilding, bringing his car to a stop.

When our Client explained the events to the responding police officers, they were skeptical and suspected that because of his age, he simply had simply misapplied the pedal.  With that in mind, the police prepared a Notice of Priority-Examination demanding that our Client present himself before the DMV within 5 calendar days to be re-examined.

When our Client appeared as directed, the DMV determined that the issuing officer had painted such an ugly picture of egregious driving that they went to immediate suspension without granting him a re-examination.  He was handed an “Order of Suspension” on the spot and was told he was entitled to a formal hearing, provided he made the request within 14 days.

Later that night, our Client’s daughter was conducting internet research and discovered our website.  A simple telephone call resulted in CDA being engaged to preserve his right to drive.

DMV’s Position: The California DMV’s position was crystal clear. Because a law enforcement officer prepared a referral to the DMV suggesting that our Client Lacked the Skill to Drive and that his driving pattern had endangered the lives of innocent children; the department resolved to take him off the road and challenge him to prove his fitness to drive.

Our Defense: When our client retained us, we immediately went to work to schedule his Lack of Skill Hearing by contacting the Driver Safety Office in Van Nuys. We immediately filed a request to stay the suspension so that our client could continue driving during the development of the case, but our request was rejected out of hand and the suspension remained in effect.

Our defense began with a detailed interview of the client to determine the facts of what had occurred.

Because the DMV is notorious for using a Lack of Skill issue as a mechanism for exploring other facets of a driver’s life, we prepared a “broad spectrum” defense to head them off at the pass.

Using a tried and true method of preparation, we directed our client to meet with a series of doctors to establish that he had no Physical or Mental Disorder that would have caused the accident.  Our investigation also revealed that our Client’s make and model of automobile has an established history of unexpected acceleration.    Because it is DMV policy to compel a driver to perform a written and a driving test on any case stemming from a Law Enforcement referral, we directed our Client to study the driver handbook and to complete an on-line “Mature Driver Improvement Course.”

At the Lack of Skill Hearing, the hearing officer accepted all of our affirmative evidence without objection and took the testimony of our client.  Because we had worked so hard to prepare our client, he testified with great emotion and credibility that made our position clear.  We were able to deflect the DMV’s suspicions that his age had caused the accident.   Instead we  suggested that that the accident could have been caused by mechanical error.

In the end, our client excelled and passed the written test with a score of 100%.  Two weeks after the hearing, our client passed his driving test with flying colors.   Because we anticipated the hearing officer’s concerns, our evidence calmed any fear regarding his physical and mental health.   One week after he passed the driving test, we received an “Order of Reinstatement” in the mail that brought the ordeal to an end. We were able to save our client’s driver license and he is back on the road and is once again safely transporting his grand kids to school.

 Call CDA Today.  Let us put you on the road to victory!

The DMV Defense Experts at California Drivers Advocates include former police officers, DMV Hearing Officers, Investigators and Scientists.  Our training, our experience and our reputation provide any driver the best opportunity to win their Administrative Hearing.

The DMV has a laundry list of reasons for taking a person’s driver license.  Fortunately, the California Vehicle Code mandates that a driver who is subject to the suspension of their driver license is entitled to fight to protect themselves.