MVA to send electronic notices of driver’s license suspensions

June 28--The Motor Vehicle Administration is changing how it alerts drivers to license suspensions, a move one Frederick man says could have prevented him from being arrested.

While he was taking his father to the post office May 28, Jason Stittgen was arrested for driving on a suspended license.

Stittgen has a commercial driver's license and is required to submit a physical examination card to the MVA. He sent his in before the deadline, he said in a phone interview, but apparently that form was never updated in the MVA records system.

A Frederick police officer on patrol ran Stittgen's tags, according to court documents, and found the MVA had flagged his license as suspended. The officer followed Stittgen to the post office, confirmed that he was the man driving the black Pontiac, then arrested him.

Stittgen was held for nearly five hours, he said, before the MVA was able to determine the license suspension was an error.

Frederick County State's Attorney Charlie Smith confirmed that his office did not prosecute Stittgen because the suspension was a mistake.

Stittgen never filed a formal complaint with the MVA, but he did speak with administration officials after his arrest, he said, to explain the problem and encourage them to better communicate with drivers.

"Really, honestly, all I want is a system in place," he said. "Something needs to be put in place, a better notification system."

The MVA this month began to send email alerts, in addition to mailed notices, to drivers with lapsed car insurance and to those whose driving privileges are about to be suspended.

The administration will also email customers about pending license suspensions arising from a failure to respond to a citation, child support enforcement or an arrest warrant.

"It's improved better communications with our customers," MVA spokesman Buel Young said. "Sometimes mail is not always delivered as it should be. ... We're just using the resources available to us."

The new procedure will alert drivers to pending license suspension more quickly, he said.

Stittgen said he thinks an email alert could have prevented him from being arrested.

"That same day, I would have taken care of it," he said.

Although Stittgen's situation was unfortunate, Young said, such serious errors are rare.

Smith and Frederick Police Department spokesman Lt. Clark Pennington both said that arrests based on MVA clerical errors are not a recurring problem.

"We haven't seen this being an issue," Pennington said.

The MVA does not track errors, Young wrote in an email, so it is unclear exactly how many similar problems have occurred.

The state's attorney's office similarly said it does not keep track of how many suspended license cases it has declined to prosecute because the driver has evidence of an error.

Follow Kelsi Loos on Twitter: @KelsiFNP.

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