Last December, the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the registration of 16 self-driving Uber cars that were operating in San Francisco, because Uber had not sought the proper permissions from the state to operate these autonomous vehicles. The ridesharing company quickly picked up and headed south to Arizona, but it may be ready to give the Golden State another try. [More]
department of motor vehicles
Pressure Mounts For Tesla To Stop Using The Term “Autopilot”
By 11.29.16
What does the term “autopilot” mean to you? For many people, it applies to a machine that can steer itself with minimal human intervention, but for electric carmaker Tesla it’s a marketing term to describe a feature that is decidedly not hands-off — and which consumer safety advocates believe can cause potentially dangerous confusion.
[More]
NY Man Continues To Get Parking Tickets Linked To Destroyed License Plates
By 9.22.16
A New York man who keeps receiving parking tickets is stumped. Not because he claims to be a perfect parker, but because the license plates linked to the tickets were destroyed. [More]
N.Y. Driver Charged With A Felony Learns There’s No Such Thing As A DIY License Plate
By 3.4.16
If you’re in a bind and don’t have valid registration for your vehicle, whipping out some cardboard and colored markers for a little DIY project is not the way to go, unless you want to end up with a felony charge on your hands. That’s the lesson police say one New York woman learned when she was caught driving with a license plate of her own creation. [More]
California DMV Retracts Notice Requiring Uber & Lyft To Obtain Commercial Licenses
By 1.27.15
Just a week after it was widely reported that the California Department of Motor Vehicles issued an advisory requesting all drivers of ride-sharing services to obtain commercial license plates, the agency has revoked the guidance. [More]
Man’s License Suspended Over A Ticket From 1981 After DMV Fixes Its Typo
By 8.18.14
What’s the last thing you remember about that time you didn’t get a notice that your license was suspended? That’s right, you wouldn’t remember it if it never happened to you. One man found himself with a suspended license over a ticket from 1981, something he wasn’t warned about back then because the notification letter had his name misspelled on it. [More]
California DMV Says Drivers’ Credit Card Data Might Have Been Breached
By 3.24.14
Here we go again: Now that we’ve all gotten used to security breaches, why not throw another one on top of Target and the rest? The California Department of Motor Vehicles says there’s a possible data security breach in its credit card processing services, though there’s no evidence of a hack yet. [More]
Pennsylvania Voters Can Skip The DMV, Voter ID Law Struck Down
By 1.17.14
Just thinking about going to the Department of Motor Vehicles induces anxiety and a stomach churn so bad I can’t move. Pennsylvania residents with the same hatred of the never-ending lines and long wait will be happy to know a judge struck down a portion of the state’s voter ID law that requires voters to have a photo identification card in order to cast a ballot. [More]
Man Doesn’t Understand Why The DMV Doesn’t Like His “COPSLIE” License Plate
By 11.7.13
Each state’s Department of Motor Vehicles keeps a list of letter and number combinations drivers are prohibited from having, whether because they’re offensive or for various other reasons known only to those DMVs. But one New Hampshire man disagrees with what his state’s DMV deems as a “no-no,” and is taking his fight for the right to have “COPSLIE” on his license plate all the way to the state’s Supreme Court. [More]
Woman Has No Choice But To Arrive At The DMV On A Horse To Get Her License Back
By 10.24.13
When you need to get where you’re going but can’t drive, it’s awfully handy to own a horse. A Virginia woman who had her driver’s license suspended during a paperwork mix-up decided to take matters (and the reins) into her own hands when she hopped atop her trusty steed and rode straight to the DMV to hand over her proof of insurance. Other non-car methods: Hoverboards, roller skates or hopping on the back of a trolley. [Associated Press] [More]
Man Finds $6,900 On The Ground Near DMV, Returns It All To Rightful Owner
By 8.14.13
The truth is, it’s a tough world out there. And while we yearn for a time when people doing good things for each other isn’t a surprise, and is simply par for the course, those aren’t the times we live in. That’s why it makes our toes and fingers tingle with goodwill when we hear that a man who found $6,900 on the ground handed in the money so it could return to the person who misplaced it. [More]
1956 Porsche 356A Catch-22: I Can’t Sell A Car That I Can’t Register
By 6.24.13
There is surely someone out there who can give this 57-year-old Porsche a good home. It belonged to the current owner’s father, but is now in disrepair and no longer runs. The problem with finding it a new home is that it’s caught in a weird legal middle ground where it can’t be sold to someone who can fix it up and get it to run because it isn’t registered, but can’t be registered because it isn’t running. [More]
State DMVs Are Not Amused By Your Attempts To Get License Plates With Dirty Acronyms
By 1.29.13
It isn’t just license plates with clear messages that can get banned (and in one recent case, challenged legally) — each state’s Department of Motor Vehicles has a lengthy list of prohibited phrases it’s had to get hip to, including text speak. Because heaven forbid someone slip in a naughty word. OMFG, right? They’re onto us. [More]
At Many Minnesota DMVs, Wait 2 Months Or Get In Line At 4 A.M. For Driver’s License
By 10.18.12
Oh, the dreaded Department of Motor Vehicles, where hopes are raised and dashed, where snaking long lines and confusing paperwork contribute to an atmosphere hellish enough to discourage even the most stalwart driver. If there’s a way for a DMV to be even more awful, Minnesota’s in the running for that dubious honor. Hopeful drivers-to-be in the state are apparently stuck either waiting two months to take a driving test or have to show up as early as 4 a.m. to take their shot behind the wheel. [More]
My Car is Stuck in a Paper Mountain
By 5.2.06
G. would like to sell his car but can’t, as the Illinois DMV has lost his title among piles of paperwork and has no interest in finding it.
