How to Win a Special Certificate Hearing

Can I Win a Special Certificate Hearing?  As stated elsewhere on this site, drivers who hold Special Certificates are among the most highly trained and most widely trusted of all professional drivers. As a result, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will hold these specialized drivers to a much higher standard of professional and personal conduct than any other driver. When the DMV seeks to deny, suspend, or revoke a Special Certificate, the affected driver is entitled to defend themselves at what is known as a Special Certificate Hearing. A Special Certificate Hearing is a full-blown legal, evidentiary, hearing that permits the accused driver to object to the DMV’s evidence, present his or her own evidence and to work vigorously to have their Special Certificate restored.

By their very nature the Special Certificate Hearing is among the most complicated of all the administrative hearings conducted by the DMV. Going into the hearing, the DMV has all the cards and initially controls all the evidence. You would be astonished at how quickly their attitude changes when the accused driver is represented by a DMV Defense Expert.

With proper assistance and representation, an accused driver can WIN a Special Certificate Hearing before the DMV. Winning a Special Certificate Hearing requires a commanding knowledge of The California Vehicle Code, The California Penal Code, The Evidence Code, and the California Code of Procedures. It is nearly impossible for the average driver to win a Special Certificate Hearing because the issues are so complicated and they rarely understand their rights.

Winning a Special Certificate Hearing requires knowledge, preparation, and patience. To prevail at such a hearing, you must be able to anticipate each and every concern of the DMV Hearing Officer and be able to address each one before it even comes up.

To Win a Special Certificate Hearing, you should immediately hire the DMV Experts at California Drivers Advocates. We have years of experience protecting and restoring the Special Certificates of California’s professional drivers.

How to Win a Special Certificate Hearing?

The Special Certificate Hearing is a formal, legal proceeding conducted under the provisions of California Administrative Law and in accordance with The California Vehicle Code. The Special Certificate Hearing is conducted at a regional office for the DMV known as the Driver Safety Office. The Special Certificate Hearing is a complicated, confusing, and potentially damaging to the career of a professional driver who attempts to conduct such a hearing themselves.

If the DMV were to refuse, suspend or revoke your Special Certificate, the immediate impact is that you may not operate the specialized vehicle authorized by the Special Certificate. In almost all instances this leads to the immediate suspension or termination of your employment. In addition to the immediate termination of your professional driving career, a loss at a Special Certificate can lead insurance companies to identify you as an “at risk” driver, and therefore increase your insurance premiums or even terminate your insurance coverage.

So, if your professional career depends on the maintenance of a Special Certificate, and if the DMV is seeking to take that away, your only option is to fight…fight…fight.

Act Now To Win a Special Certificate Hearing

Immediately upon receiving notice that the DMV intends to “deny, suspend, or revoke” your Special Certificate, call the DMV Defense Experts at California Drivers Advocates. Our team will immediately take action to preserve your right to a Special Certificate Hearing and to request a “Stay of Suspension” if the facts warrant this. The most common mistake made by professional drivers is not acting quickly enough to preserve their rights. Don’t delay……Call CDA now!

Once a Special Certificate Hearing has been scheduled, it is imperative that a thorough and comprehensive investigation be conducted to discover what evidence the DMV possesses to justify their action. It is not uncommon for the DMV to receive stale or incorrect information that it misinterprets as evidence of misconduct that warrants stripping you of your Special Certificate. In most instances the denial, suspension, or revocation of a Special Certificate comes as a result of some suspected criminal or immoral activity.  Many times, the DMV gets it wrong, but still seeks to take you off the road.

At the Special Certificate Hearing, the hearing officer will present the DMV’s case. The DMV is permitted to introduce its own records into evidence along with other reports or records received from various government agencies, employers, or other sources. Your representative from CDA will appear with you to ensure that only accurate and trustworthy information is allowed into evidence.

As the “respondent” you are permitted to introduce your own evidence, records, witnesses, and other pieces of evidence to “rebut” the DMV’s position. Winning a Special Certificate Hearing usually requires that the accused driver be present and that he or she offer testimony. It is critical that you be represented at the Special Certificate Hearing to ensure you are fully prepared for this testimony and that you are prepared to anticipate the cross-examination of the Hearing Officer. It is equally important that you be represented by a DMV Defense Expert so that the DMV Hearing Officer correctly reviews and weighs all of the evidence.

Unlike APS and Negligent Operator hearings where the hearing officer has the ultimate power to decide the fate of one’s driving privilege; at a Special Certificate Hearing, the hearing officer is only permitted to make a recommendation to a reviewing board. The hearing officer’s recommendation is forwarded to the review board and is considered, but the recommendation is not binding on the board.

Call us……..We’re Ready to Win Your Special Certificate Hearing.

If the maintenance of a Special Certificate is the key element to keeping your job, you cannot afford to make mistakes. Telephone the DMV Defense Experts at California Drivers Advocates. We have been conducting and winning Special Certificate Hearings throughout California for many years. We are ready to immediately jump into action to schedule your hearing and begin planning a defense strategy to win. We will completely investigate the issue that put you on the DMV’s radar and then will “form fit” a defense plan that specifically addresses your individual case.

Don’t give up. You can WIN a Special Certificate Hearing and we’re ready to help.