Department of Motor Vehicles

Massachussetts Registry of Motor Vehicles on Washington Street in Boston's Chinatown

In the United States of America, a Department of Motor Vehicles (or DMV) is a state-level government agency that administers vehicle registration and driver licensing. Similar departments exist in Canada. The name "DMV" is not used in every state or province, nor are the traditional DMV functions handled by a single agency in every state, but the generic term is universally understood, particularly in the context of driver's license issuance and renewal.

Terminology and organization

Driver licensing and vehicle registration in the United States is handled by the state government in all states but Hawaii, where counties perform DMV functions. In Canada, driver licensing and vehicle registration is handled at the provincial government level.

Names

United States

The Uniform Vehicle Code prefers the name "Department of Motor Vehicles".^[1] The acronym "DMV" is most commonly used to describe the agency (where it exists); however, diverse titles are used in different jurisdictions.

Canada

Organization within the government

Headquarters of the largest DMV of all, the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

A BMV license branch in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Furthermore, there is much diversity in how the Department of Motor Vehicles (or equivalent) is situated within the structure of a state's government.

Hawaii is the only U.S. state where no part of the state government performs DMV functions; it has completely delegated vehicle registration and driver licensing to county governments.

In Kentucky and Tennessee, the Transportation Cabinet, and the Department of Revenue, Taxpayer Vehicle Services Division, respectively, set the policies and designs for licenses and vehicle registration; but the actual registration and licensing are handled by offices of the county governments.

In the District of Columbia, which is not part of any state, the DMV (formerly the Bureau of Motor Vehicle Services) is part of the city government.

In a few states, there may be a separate department which administers vehicle inspections (which are mandatory in a number of U.S. states with adverse weather conditions which make vehicle maintenance a high priority). In Virginia, the Department of Motor Vehicles handles both driver licensing and vehicle registration, while the Virginia State Police and the Department of Environmental Quality administer safety inspection and emission inspection, respectively. Note that the program is simply administered by the state; actual inspections are performed by specific authorized employees of privately owned gas stations and garages licensed by the state.

In some states, the DMV is not a separate cabinet-level department, but instead is a division or bureau within a larger department. Examples of departments which perform DMV functions include the Department of Justice (Montana), the Department of Public Safety (Texas, Ohio), the Department of [Taxation and] Revenue (Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and New Mexico), and the Department of Transportation (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Wisconsin). In New Hampshire, the Division of Motor Vehicles is a division of the Department of Safety. In Vermont, the Department of Motor Vehicles is a subunit of the state Agency of Transportation.

Some states do not separate DMV functions into distinct organizational entities at all, but simply bundle them into a laundry list of responsibilities assigned to an existing government agency. For example, in the state of Washington, the Department of Licensing is responsible for driver's licenses, and vehicle and boat registrations in addition to most other business and occupational licensing. In Michigan and Illinois, the Secretary of State's offices perform responsibilities which would be handled by the DMV in other states.

Jurisdiction and exceptions

Almost all long-term residents ("long term" in this case means over 30 days) of a state who wish to operate motor vehicles must possess a driver's license issued by their state DMV, and their vehicles must show license plates (and current registration tags or stickers) issued by that agency.

Armed Forces active duty servicemembers are an exception to this general rule; by Federal law, servicemembers do not change legal residence when relocating to a new duty station unless they take voluntary action to do so. These individuals have the option of retaining the license and vehicle registration of their legal residence or obtaining a new license and registration locally. Some states also let out-of-state college students maintain their existing license and/or registration.

Vehicles owned by the federal government register with the General Services Administration, rather than a state. Drivers of these vehicles must still be licensed with their home state, however.

The Office of Foreign Missions at the U.S. Department of State has a Diplomatic Motor Vehicles program which issues driver's licenses to foreign diplomats and their dependents, registers their vehicles, and issues special diplomatic license plates.

In some states, besides conducting the written and hands-on driving tests that are a prerequisite to earning a driver's license, DMVs also regulate private driving schools and their instructors.

DMVs with the responsibility of registering automobiles also track detailed vehicle information such as odometer history in order to prevent automobile-related crimes such as odometer fraud.

Driver's licenses and identification

In countries with no national identification card (like the United States), driver's licenses have often become the de facto identification card for many purposes, and DMVs have effectively become the agency responsible for verifying identity in their respective states. See Identity documents in the United States.

Equivalent agencies in other countries

• Australia

• Queensland - Queensland Transport
• New South Wales - Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA)
• ACT - Road Transport Authority
• Victoria - Vicroads
• Tasmania - Department of Infrastructure, Energy & Resources
• South Australia - Transport SA
• Northern Territory - Motor Vehicle Registry
• Western Australia - Department for Planning and Infrastructure

• Latvia CSDD Ceļu satiksmes drošības dienests ( Road and traffic safety agency)
• Brazil - At national level, DENATRAN, that coordinates all governamental effort. But each state has it own DETRAN (such as DETRAN-SP, that belongs to state of São Paulo), that manages actual registration of vehicles, emission of driver's licenses, etc.
• Bulgaria - Traffic Police

• Czech Republic - Odbor dopravy Obecního úřadu obce s rozšířenou působností příslušný podle místa pobytu žadatele
• Germany - Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA), Straßenverkehrsbehörde (handles driver's license applications/vehicle registration, part of the city or county government), TÜV (old Bundesländer)/DEKRA (new Bundesländer) (handle both theoretical and practical driver's license testing, issue DLs)
• Iran - Ministry Of Roads And Transportation
• Italy - Motorizzazione Civile
• South Korea - Driver's License Agency^[9]
• Mexico - Secretaría de Vialidad y Transporte (Secretariat of Traffic and Transportation; ran directly by the states rather than the federal government)
• New Zealand - Land Transport New Zealand^[10]
• Norway - Statens vegvesen
• Portugal - Direcção Geral de Viação (now extinct and its functions split amongst other agencies)
• Philippines - Land Transportation Office
• Pakistan - National Highway Authority
• Sweden – Swedish National Road Administration (Swedish: Vägverket)
• Spain - Dirección General de Tráfico
• United Kingdom – Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

• Northern Ireland - Driver & Vehicle Agency

References

External links

• American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators
• German Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, with information in English