Driver License Compact

The Driver License Compact is an agreement between states in the United States of America. The compact is used to exchange data between motorist's home state and a state where the motorist incurred a vehicular infraction. Not all states are members, and states respond to the data differently.

Under the Driver License Compact, which is a series of laws within the adopting states in the United States and adopting provinces of Canada, in order for a driver's state to penalize him/her for an out-of-state offense, the driver's state must have the equivalent statute. If the driver's state does not have the statute, no action can be taken. For example, the State of Indiana does not have a careless driving offense whereas Colorado does. If an Indiana licensed driver gets convicted of careless driving in Colorado, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles takes no action.

The Driver License Compact came into existence with Nevada becoming the first member in 1960. Organizations in the Western States such as governors came together to cooperate on traffic safety. Under the Beamer Resolution ("Interstate Compacts for Highway Safety Resolution"), Public Law 85-684, enacted on August 20, 1958, 72 Stat. 635 (named for Rep. John V. Beamer, R-Indiana), states were automatically given permission to form compacts in the areas of traffic safety. Originally, the Driver License Compact dealt with dangerous driving violations such as drunk driving, reckless driving, commission of a felony involving a motor vehicle and others. Later on, minor violations were included as well. Quite a few states joined in the 1960s but it languished in the 1970s and part of the 1980s. In the late 1980s, there was a push by the AAMVA to get states to join and in the early to mid 1990s, quite a few states joined.

The Driver License Compact is no longer being pushed by the AAMVA as it is being superseded by the Driver License Agreement (DLA), which also replaces the Non-Resident Violator Compact. However, as of 2011, there were only three member states to the DLA: Arkansas, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

Georgia, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Tennessee are not members.American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators: Nevada repealed the authorizing legislation in 2007, although it still generally conforms to the agreement through regulations.

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