5 motorist errors in DMV, and how to avoid them

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Many motorists in the United States often make mistakes that entail major problems, including meetings with law enforcement officers or the confiscation of a car. The Department of Motor Vehicle Registration (DMV) in the state of New York created 5 list of common and repeated errors to help American drivers avoid them.

1. You forgot to enter your new address

You must inform DMV about the change of residential address within 10 days after the move. This applies to the address where your driver's license is registered, as well as the registration addresses of all your cars.

It is not enough to simply write your new address on the back of an old ID card or report a move to USPS or to a police officer who writes you a fine. If you do not disclose your new DMV address, you will not receive notifications about the expiration of your documents and risk driving an unregistered car or an invalid ID. Both are legal misdemeanors. This happens quite often, but the good news is that this problem is easily avoided.

2. You left the state and did not report DMV

States transfer data to each other, so if you move, do not forget to bring the case to the end in the state where you left. This implies the resolution of all issues regarding car registration and identification: written out fines, revoked driver's license and so on. In addition, if you leave from one state to another, do not forget to hand over your license plates in the one that you left.

If you leave open questions with fines or revoked ID, then you will not be given a driver's license in the new state. Do not forget to tell DMV your new address so that all letters from them come to your home. It is also very important to pass the license plate of the car to avoid the invalidity of your insurance.

3. You have overdue insurance

Since all drivers indirectly pay for the consequences of any accident involving uninsured drivers, the state government of New York requires that every driver be insured for the duration of the vehicle registration. DMV works with insurance companies and monitors insurance coverage. The department knows when a motorist for one reason or another has no insurance. In such cases, they send a letter asking you to solve the problem.

Each year, DMV sends thousands of such letters to 500. If, after receiving the letter, the driver does not solve the problem, the DMV is obliged to suspend the registration of the car, and then the validity of the driver’s license.

The department suspends 300 thousands of registrations per year due to the lack of insurance. If you do not inform them of the change of address, you will not receive notifications from them that you have insurance problems, and your ID and registration will be suspended. You must pass the license plate of your car in the DMV before suspending your insurance.

4. You do not understand how the system of penalty points

The DMV has a scoring system for tracking dangerous drivers. It happens, motorists believe that they have already decided the issue of their violation in a local court, and later it turns out that the DMV separately counted points for it, which add up to a separate fine called Driver Responsibility Assessment (DRA).

The DRA fine is $ 300, but it can be paid for in three annual payments of $ 100 over 3 years. Motorists who have not indicated their new address in the DMV may resolve their issues with the court, but never receive a notice of the DRA fine, since the Department does not have their new address. Failure to pay this fine will result in the suspension of the driver’s license.

5. You do not bring all the documents to the office DMV

Approximately 10% of customers who come to the DMV office do not bring all the necessary documents with them, and they have to return a second time. For example, you didn’t take enough money to pay for a certificate or you don’t have proof of car insurance required for car registration. It is best not to go to the DMV office at all, but to check whether you can conduct your operation online — for example, change your address, renew your registration, renew your driver's license, renew your lost document, pay for DRA or sign up for a driving test.

All the necessary information for drivers is on the DMV website, which is recognized as one of the best in the USA. You can also subscribe to the MyDMV service, which offers even more benefits to motorists.

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