Driver License Agreement
Encyclopedia
In the USA, the Driver License Agreement (DLA) is a new interstate compact written by the Joint Executive Board of the Driver License Compact
(DLC) and the Non-Resident Violator Compact
(NRVC) with staff support provided by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA). The goals of the DLA are to require each state to honor licenses issued by other member states; to require each state to report traffic convictions to the licensing state; to prohibit a member state from confiscating an out-of-state driver's license or jailing an out-of-state driver for a minor violation; and to require each state to maintain a complete driver's history, including withdrawals and traffic convictions including non-DLA states. When a DLA member state receives a report concerning their drivers from a non-DLA member state, the member state will be required to treat the report the same as if it came from a member state. As with the previous compacts, the DLA requires a state to post all out-of-state traffic convictions to the driver's record, and a state must apply its own laws to all out-of-state convictions. As with the previous compacts, the DLA allows other jurisdictions to access motor vehicle records, in accordance with the Drivers' Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), and to transfer the driver's history if the driver transfers his license.
The DLA has some changes from the NRVC. Unlike the NRVC, under the DLA, adverse action can be taken against a driver for not responding to violations such as equipment violations, registration violations, parking violations, and weight limit violations. Other changes from the NRVC are that in order for a driver to keep his license under the NRVC, he just had to respond to the citation by paying the fine. With the DLA, the driver must comply with any order from the out of state court. An example would be a driver from Arizona
getting cited for tinted windows while traveling through Virginia
, even though the tinted windows are legal back at home. The driver is ordered to fix the tint to meet Virginia law even though the driver left Virginia. Under the NRVC, to retain said license, the driver just pays the fine but with DLA, the driver must do what the court says including but not limited to paying a fine, but also fixing vehicle equipment, and/or community service.
Joint Executive Board with the idea to combine and improve the compacts and make them enforceable, possibly with federal grant funding. Around the same time, Congress passed the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) and the Joint Executive Board decided jurisdictions in Mexico and Canada could join.
The Federal Government through appropriations in Congress funded the Joint Executive Board in writing the new Driver License Agreement. In 2000, the agreement was ratified by the U.S. states with 2 votes against. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Joint Executive Board strengthened driver license security provisions in the DLA, and the revised DLA was again ratified by the U.S. states with some votes against. The information on who voted against the DLA is considered confidential and proprietary information by the AAMVA.
Connecticut
is the first state that joined in January 2002.
Driver License Compact
Driver License Compact is an interstate compact used by States of the United States to exchange information concerning license suspensions and traffic violations of non-residents and forward them to the state where they are licensed known as the home state. Its theme is One Driver, One License,...
(DLC) and the Non-Resident Violator Compact
Non-Resident Violator Compact
The Non-Resident Violator Compact is an interstate compact used by 44 states in the United States to process traffic citations across state borders....
(NRVC) with staff support provided by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA). The goals of the DLA are to require each state to honor licenses issued by other member states; to require each state to report traffic convictions to the licensing state; to prohibit a member state from confiscating an out-of-state driver's license or jailing an out-of-state driver for a minor violation; and to require each state to maintain a complete driver's history, including withdrawals and traffic convictions including non-DLA states. When a DLA member state receives a report concerning their drivers from a non-DLA member state, the member state will be required to treat the report the same as if it came from a member state. As with the previous compacts, the DLA requires a state to post all out-of-state traffic convictions to the driver's record, and a state must apply its own laws to all out-of-state convictions. As with the previous compacts, the DLA allows other jurisdictions to access motor vehicle records, in accordance with the Drivers' Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), and to transfer the driver's history if the driver transfers his license.
The DLA has some changes from the NRVC. Unlike the NRVC, under the DLA, adverse action can be taken against a driver for not responding to violations such as equipment violations, registration violations, parking violations, and weight limit violations. Other changes from the NRVC are that in order for a driver to keep his license under the NRVC, he just had to respond to the citation by paying the fine. With the DLA, the driver must comply with any order from the out of state court. An example would be a driver from Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
getting cited for tinted windows while traveling through Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, even though the tinted windows are legal back at home. The driver is ordered to fix the tint to meet Virginia law even though the driver left Virginia. Under the NRVC, to retain said license, the driver just pays the fine but with DLA, the driver must do what the court says including but not limited to paying a fine, but also fixing vehicle equipment, and/or community service.
History
Work on the Driver License Agreement started in 1994/1995 by the Driver License Compact and the Non-Resident Violator CompactNon-Resident Violator Compact
The Non-Resident Violator Compact is an interstate compact used by 44 states in the United States to process traffic citations across state borders....
Joint Executive Board with the idea to combine and improve the compacts and make them enforceable, possibly with federal grant funding. Around the same time, Congress passed the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
(NAFTA) and the Joint Executive Board decided jurisdictions in Mexico and Canada could join.
The Federal Government through appropriations in Congress funded the Joint Executive Board in writing the new Driver License Agreement. In 2000, the agreement was ratified by the U.S. states with 2 votes against. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Joint Executive Board strengthened driver license security provisions in the DLA, and the revised DLA was again ratified by the U.S. states with some votes against. The information on who voted against the DLA is considered confidential and proprietary information by the AAMVA.
Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
is the first state that joined in January 2002.
States that are members
- ConnecticutConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
- ArkansasArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
- can join under administrative rulemakeing under Act 446 as passed by the 2005 Legislative Session - MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
Controversy
- Sharing of state driver databases not only with other states but also with foreign countries that do not follow the Drivers Privacy Protection Act which puts drivers' private information at risk.
- Since DLA members are required to make their databases available to all jurisdictions, the security of drivers' private information is at risk.
- No due processDue processDue process is the legal code that the state must venerate all of the legal rights that are owed to a person under the principle. Due process balances the power of the state law of the land and thus protects individual persons from it...
rights for receiving a traffic ticket or major violation such as DUI while driving out of the country but yet, the ticket when reported to the home jurisdiction can affect retention of a driver's license and cause insurance rates to increase. - Based on a vote from the Joint Executive Board, other countries can join the DLA such as member nations of the European UnionEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
Legislation and other
- The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators has struck a deal with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationNational Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government, part of the Department of Transportation...
to get funding to get states to join. Found at AAMVA Memo - Legislation in the past has been sponsored in KentuckyKentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, MichiganMichiganMichigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, MinnesotaMinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, and North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
to join - There has been legislationin the past, introduded in the US Congress, to mandate that states must participate. Such legislation included HR10 - 9/11 Implementation Act of 2004 and HR418 - The Real ID Act of 2005 but the mandate has not made it into the final bills.
- Driver's Privacy Protection Act http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00002721----000-.html