2023 Delaware Code › Title 21 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 27. Driver’s License › Subchapter II. Suspension or Revocation › § 2733. Discretionary suspension or revocation of license or driving privileges.

§ 2733. Discretionary suspension or revocation of license or driving privileges.
(a) The Department may immediately suspend the license and driving privileges or both of any person without hearing and without receiving a record of conviction of such person of crime whenever the Department has reason to believe that such person:
(1) Has committed any offense for the conviction of which mandatory revocation of license and driving privileges or both is provided in § 2732 of this title, but no license shall be suspended by reason of any conviction or convictions upon the charge of overloading any vehicle as provided in § 4502 of this title;
(2) Has, by reckless or unlawful operation of a motor vehicle, caused or contributed to an accident resulting in death or injury to any other person or serious property damage;
(3) Is incompetent to drive a motor vehicle or is a person with mental or physical disabilities rendering it unsafe for such person to drive a motor vehicle upon the highways;
(4) Is an habitual reckless or negligent driver of a motor vehicle or has committed a serious violation of the motor vehicle laws of this State;
(5) Has violated § 2751(a) or (b) of this title;
(6) Has violated § 6702 of this title;
(7) Has violated § 2118A of this title; or
(8) Has violated § 4129 of this title based upon notification of such violation provided by the Department of Transportation to the Department. However, no suspension of driving privileges shall take place if the toll(s), administrative fee and civil penalty has been paid prior to the hearing required under subsection (b) of this section.
(b) Whenever the Department suspends the license of any person for any reason set forth in subsection (a) of this section, the Department shall immediately notify the licensee and afford the licensee an opportunity of a hearing before the Department in the county wherein the licensee resides. Upon such hearing the Department shall either rescind its order of suspension or, good cause appearing therefor, may suspend the license of such person for a further period or revoke the license.
(c) The Department may suspend or revoke the right of any nonresident to operate a motor vehicle in this State for any cause for which the license of a resident operator or chauffeur may be suspended or revoked, and any nonresident who operates a motor vehicle upon a highway when the right to operate has been suspended or revoked by the Department shall be punished as provided in § 2756 of this title.
(d) (1) The Department may suspend or revoke the license of any resident of this State upon receiving notice of the conviction of such person in another state of an offense therein which, if committed in this State, would be grounds for the suspension or revocation of the license of an operator or chauffeur. The Department may, upon receiving a record of the conviction in this State of a nonresident driver of a motor vehicle of any offense under the motor vehicle laws of this State, forward a certified copy of such record to the Motor Vehicle Administrator in the state wherein the person so convicted is a resident.
(2) If the Department takes action pursuant to this subsection because of the receipt of notice of the conviction in another state of a resident of this State for operating a vehicle without insurance, it shall provide the resident with the opportunity to produce for the Department sufficient proof of insurance as determined by the Department showing such insurance to have been in full force and effect at all pertinent times on the day of the occurrence of the offense. If the Department determines that such insurance was in full force and effect at all pertinent times on the day of the occurrence of the offense, the resident's driver's license shall be reinstated without a fee and the notation relating to the Department's action shall be removed from the resident's driving record.
(e) The Department shall not suspend a license for a period of more than 1 year, and upon suspending or revoking any license shall require that such license so suspended or revoked be surrendered to the Department to be retained by it, except that at the end of a period of suspension the license so surrendered shall be returned to the licensee upon payment of the reinstatement fee as provided in § 2737 of this title.
(f) The Department, upon receiving a record of the conviction of any person upon a charge of operating a motor vehicle while the license and driving privileges or both of such person is suspended or revoked, shall immediately extend the period of such first suspension or revocation for an additional like period.
(g) In the event of a suspension of a driver's license pursuant to this section, the Department may issue an occupational license during a period of suspension upon application by the applicant upon a form prescribed by the Department and sworn to by the applicant; provided, that the applicant sets forth in said application that the suspension of such license has created an extreme hardship in the conduct of the business usually transacted by the applicant, and that there have been no more than 2 such prior suspensions; provided, however, that no such occupational license shall be issued if the license of the applicant has been suspended for physical and/or mental disability or if the license of the applicant has been revoked for conviction of any of the crimes specified in § 2732 of this title, even though the revocation has created an extreme hardship.
(h) The Department, upon receiving a record of convictions of any person upon a charge of operating a motor vehicle in violation of the restriction imposed upon said occupational license during the period of such occupational license, shall immediately extend the period of such suspension for an additional like period and shall forthwith direct such person to surrender said occupational license to the Department.
(i) Any person whose operator's or chauffeur's license has been suspended and to whom an occupational license has been issued, who drives any motor vehicle upon the highways of this State contrary to the restrictions placed upon such occupational license during the period of such occupational license, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $25 nor more than $200.
(j) The Department ordinarily may not suspend a license based upon a driving record prior to 2 years before the date of the intended suspension. If at the discretion of the Secretary a longer record period should be considered, a suspension may be based upon such longer driving record period.
(k) The Division shall forthwith suspend the license or driving privileges, or both, of any child upon notification by the Family Court of the State pursuant to § 1009 of Title 10.
(l) Except when the name and address of a resident of this State has been forwarded to the Department under § 2731(c) of this title, the Department may, upon receiving a record, notice, or certification of noncompliance by a person for a citation, summons, ticket, or other document issued by an arresting officer for violation of a traffic law, ordinance, rule, or regulation ordering the arrested motorist to appear, suspend the driver's license or driving privileges of the person who failed to comply. The Department shall not have this power of suspension in cases of parking violations.
(m) When the name and address of a nonresident of this State has been forwarded to the Department under § 2731(c) of this title, the Department may suspend the person's driving privileges in this State and immediately advise the motor vehicle administrator of the state in which the person is a resident that the person's license to drive be suspended until the person provides evidence that any of the following has occurred:
(1) The fine on the charge stated in the Uniform Traffic Complaint and Summons has been paid.
(2) The person has appeared before the court and made arrangements to take care of the charge stated in the Uniform Traffic Complaint and Summons.
(3) The person has been adjudicated not guilty of the charge stated in the Uniform Traffic Complaint and Summons.
36 Del. Laws, c. 10, §  68;  37 Del. Laws, c. 10, §  21;  Code 1935, §  5606;  43 Del. Laws, c. 247;  46 Del. Laws, c. 121, §§  1, 2;  47 Del. Laws, c. 393, §  2;  21 Del. C. 1953, §  2733;  53 Del. Laws, c. 89;  54 Del. Laws, c. 261;  54 Del. Laws, c. 273;  57 Del. Laws, c. 126, §§  1-3;  57 Del. Laws, c. 167;  57 Del. Laws, c. 670, §  11A;  59 Del. Laws, c. 307, §  6;  60 Del. Laws, c. 615, §  1;  62 Del. Laws, c. 261, §§  1-3;  65 Del. Laws, c. 77, §  5;  68 Del. Laws, c. 406, §  2;  70 Del. Laws, c. 37, §  1;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1;  70 Del. Laws, c. 259, §  5;  71 Del. Laws, c. 13, §  1;  74 Del. Laws, c. 235, §  1;  79 Del. Laws, c. 371, §  23;  80 Del. Laws, c. 137, §  5;  80 Del. Laws, c. 201, §  1;