When you perform a license plate search, you are looking up the unique plate number attached to a vehicle. These numbers are generally issued by a local city or state DMV, or another similar driver service agency. Since license plates are distributed and handled on a statewide basis, there are often varying regulations across the country. For example, some states like Alabama and Hawaii allow you to keep your license plate number when you get a new vehicle. In these states, you may be able to access driver history through license plates. However, when you search a license plate from Alaska, you will find that plates are never transferred between vehicles.

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Unlike a VIN number, which always stays with a specific automobile, a license plate number search can potentially show either vehicle or driver history. Unlike a specifically formulated VIN number, the characters in a license plate number are usually distributed serially. Furthermore, most states allow drivers to request personalized license plates and plate numbers. Check in with your local DMV or similar agency for more details about license plate protocols.

What can I learn from an auto license plate search?

California DMV Home Page is available for customers to check out publications, download forms, brochures, FAQs, Vehicle Information, Boats, Vessel, and Field Offices. Thank you for reaching out about our California license plate number lookup. In order to find your California Tag number, AKA. California License Plate Number, you can find this on your registration, from the California DMV or from performing a VIN search online. License Search. Welcome to the Department of Consumer Affairs license lookup web page. You may use this page to look up a company or individual who has a license issued by the Department of Consumer Affairs for the professions listed. To find a company or individual, select a license type from the list below. Starting in 2020, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) begins compliance verification to ensure that vehicles subject to the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Truck and Bus Regulation meet the requirements prior to obtaining DMV registration.

Unfortunately, not all states offer online license plate search services, and the information provided on the reports are limited to protect driver safety. The Driver’s Privacy Protection Act requires all states to prohibit the release or use of personal information by any DMV. Protected information includes access to a driver’s Social Security Number, driver license or identification card number, name, address, telephone number and medical information contained in motor vehicle or driver records.

Only law enforcement are authorized to find personal information about vehicle owners through the running of license plates. Depending on your state, you may be able to access the following info through a public records license plate search:

• Vehicle information such as body type, engine specs and more
• A vehicle’s registration status
• Amount of people that owned the vehicle
• Recent odometer readings
• Traffic citations linked to the vehicle
• Vehicle registration details
• Vehicle history report
• Accident report

Performing a free license plate search will allow you to view vehicle-specific information, while paid services typically provide more data. A license plate search can give you access to the same vehicle history reports that professionals in the automobile industry utilize to influence their vehicle purchasing decisions. However, many paid searches are performed by third-party services.

Note: If you live in a state that allows drivers to keep the same license plate numbers with new vehicles, you may be able to access more driver history through a license plate search.

When should I perform a license plate search?

While the information available in a license plate number search varies by state, they can still contain beneficial material if you are a car buyer. If you are looking for information about a vehicle that you spot on the road, searching a license plate can provide you with some essential info. This option is beneficial because you may be unable to access a VIN if you spot it while driving, but their license plate number is always visible.

Oftentimes, safety features such as airbags and seatbelts are detailed on these reports. Additionally, these reports can also provide pertinent safety information such as vehicle or part recalls. In fact, some free license plate searches will provide you with a vehicle’s VIN number so that you can performs more detailed searches. Accident records and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recalls about particular vehicles may be essential to consider when you are trying to purchase a used vehicle.

Moreover, an auto license plate search can be useful when you are looking for a vehicle’s history report. Knowing a vehicle’s history can greatly influence your purchasing decision. You may come across a seller that does not always reveal all the problems about a vehicle, but some license plate searches will perform checks for significant problems and detail any title brands on a vehicle. Records and problems that are investigated can include:

• Abandoned records.
• Fire, hair or water damaged records.
• Major damage incidents.
• Junk or scrap records.
• Insurance loss or probable total loss records.
• Salvage or salvage auction records.
• Reports of vehicle theft.

All car buyers are recommended to check a vehicle history report through a public records license plate search or a VIN number report in order to avoid stolen or unsafe vehicles.

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Where does the information on a license plate search come from?

Most services that search a license plate gather their information from multiple credible sources. A majority of the information comes from the public records available through various motor vehicle departments. Service stations and insurance companies also provide relevant information found in a license plate search.

Who is allowed to search a license plate?

Running a license plate search to check on another person is illegal in most circumstances, but many services will collect public information linked to a plate. You will not be able to access the same personal data that a law enforcement officer can view, but everyone has access to public records. The data gathered in these searches is similar to a VIN check.

Numerous laws, especially the Freedom of Information Act, permits citizens to access data collected by the government. Any data created by the Department of Motor Vehicle and other government agencies is available for public access. Besides that, these agencies allow easy access to this information in order to cut down on car fraud and automobile theft.

Can I perform a license plate search on my own?

While it is possible to search a license plate on your own, it would consume a lot of your time and resources. You would essentially need to contact every DMV, police department, federal agency and insurance company to gather all of their public data.

If you are doing this research to help you purchase a new vehicle, you simply won’t have the time to complete plate checks on your own. Instead, you can gather a fair amount of data in a matter of minutes by using a free license plate search service.

Driving Record Lookup

Driving records have gone hand-in-hand with the development and proliferation of automobiles. When an individual is of age for a driver's license, records start tracking his completion of driving tests as well as any infractions for disobeying speed limits, a careful operation of a vehicle, and accidents. These records are kept for the driver's lifetime, may provide information for legal proceedings and anyone can conduct a driving record search.

Do your Driving Records Expire?

An individual's record follows him from state to state because it is a legal document – a timeline of decisions and choices that has wider implications than the cost of car insurance.

Although the name alone would lead one to believe that driver's records reflect only on a person's ability to follow the rules of the road, a bad record can have serious consequences that reach further into one's life, it can hamper your ability to pursue your goals in many ways.

Most states now have systems that tally poor driving or inability to follow driving laws through a 'points' rating that penalizes poor driving by financial and legal means. This is how it works: driving infractions can add 'points' to one's driving record, which in turn drive up the cost of auto insurance and makes future traffic tickets more expensive as well. If a driver accumulates too many points over time future traffic tickets may be charged as felonies (particularly DUI offenses) or he may lose his license for a period of time. In addition, points can be added to one's license as a result of out-of-state tickets as well. Points disappear after several years (generally 3-5 years after the infraction) or may be reduced by taking a safe driving class.

Difference by States

For instance, Florida adds three points to a driver's record when he is stopped for littering or speeding up to 15 mph over the speed limit. Additional points may be added if a police officer observes a child, not in a safety seat or an open bottle of alcohol in the car. More points are applied to a driver's record if he passes a school bus illegally, leaves the scene of an accident, or crashed while speeding. Florida suspends driver's licenses for a month when 12 or more points are accrued within a year, and suspends a driver's license for 90 days when 18 or more points are accrued within a year. Points may also add up to a driver being labeled a Habitual Traffic Offender, which generally means future traffic violations will hold higher consequences and higher penalties.

The History

The first traffic ticket was allegedly given to a man in Dayton, Ohio for driving a car over the 12 mile per hour speed limit. Another police officer in New York City claimed to be the first to reprimand a driver for the same offense (the police officer allegedly caught up with the car while riding his bike) – but since the violation was not written in ticket form it's difficult to confirm the claim.

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Connecticut and Massachusetts were the first states to require drivers to buy insurance in the mid-1920s. Most other states did not follow until the 1950s. Auto insurance compounds the importance of vehicle owner records because drivers are judged on their past habits, linking one's premium to how safe and law-compliant a driver is.

Implications of Driving Records

Along with accruing points on one's license and paying higher auto insurance, as a result, a bad online driving record can impact one's ability to obtain and the rate paid for life insurance, it can negatively impact one's credit rating (particularly if any traffic violations are outstanding or unpaid), and felony-level traffic violations can result in jail records, loss of voting rights, qualifying for loans, and restricted travel, among other things.

The Future of Driver Records

A law called the Driver's Privacy Protection Act attempts to shield individuals from those who seek to profit from driving records. Courts have blocked attorneys from soliciting clients according to their driving records, and some have sought to keep vehicle 'black box' data recorders from being used against drivers.

US-Canada Border Crossing Tips for Drivers

Canada and the U.S. are very friendly, but when crossing the US-Canada border, you still have to know the ins and outs of what is and what is not allowed. To make your trip to our northern neighbor go as smoothly as possible be sure you follow these tips below:

• Have your photo ID with you. You will need a passport, a NEXUS card, Enhanced Driver’s License or Fast/Express card to cross the border into Canada.
• Be prepared to speak with border patrol before you reach the booth. Remove any hats and sunglasses, turn down your radio and have your IDs ready.
• Be sure to check the list of things you can and cannot bring into Canada. There are restrictions about pets, alcohol and tobacco products.

Before leaving clean out your trunk and car of anything which might cause suspicion and prompt unwanted questions.

Driving Fatalities & Rates 2006-2016

Percentage of Alcohol-Impaired Drivers Involved in Fatal Crashes by Month, Land Use, Weather & light Condition in 2016

The Last 5 Year Driving Records of Drivers Involved in Fatal Crashes by BAC

Fatal Crashes by Time & Day of the Week