While driving with a suspended license is a crime in most states, most people are unaware that their license is suspended. Mainly, because they never received notification of the suspension.
A suspension license check may become necessary if you suspect your license was suspended. There are different online search resources to conduct a suspension license check to learn if your driver’s license has been suspended for driving under the influence, for nonpayment of fine, or something else. There are quite a few reasons why it would be suspended.
One of the more common reasons for your license being suspended is –
- You may have forgotten that you were caught driving under the influence.
- You were in an accident and you left the scene of the accident. Worse, is if there were injured people.
- You have not paid for a speeding fine.
- You have failed to comply with a child support order.
- You allowed your insurance policy to lapse. A suspension license check can be to call your insurer and check with them for sure if that is the case. As it is, the insurance company is usually informed by the Department of Motor Vehicles when a person’s driving privileges are suspended.
Fortunately, a suspension license check is not something so difficult as to render it something impossible to do.
Some people just assume that if their license was suspended they would know about it. But customer services are almost non-existent these days and you have to do a suspension license check yourself if you have suspicions.
If you are lucky, it may just be that they have informed you. You can look in your postbox and you may well have received notification of your suspension. If you have moved and changed addresses, it is up to you to have alerted the authorities of your change of address.
Suspension license check with NHTSA
As it is, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration operates the National Driver Register and a suspended license check can be done with them. This is a database of those drivers who have been convicted of a serious traffic violation.
Information in the National Driver Register is confidential – protected by federal privacy laws – and is provided by state motor vehicle agencies. They make use of the database to check on individuals applying for a license in their jurisdictions.
Your employer will want to check your license
A person may apply for a job to drive for a company and of course, the company will do well to check that the license is valid. If the license has been suspended, even a valid-looking license may not be current.
Procedures differ from state to state. Washington as an example, offers a number of driving records and you can find details on traffic violations, accidents, and suspensions.
When you operate a vehicle, it is important to have a valid driver’s license. Allowing your license to expire can get you a suspension. If you have concerns about a driver’s license, you can check its current status online.
In the state of Minnesota you can check that your license is valid by looking at the Driver’s License Status page on the Dept. of Driver and Vehicle Services website. All that is required is for you to fill in your license number and get the status of your license.
You can also go to a DVS office and request a print-out of your driving record which will show the status of your license.
Driving with a suspended license is a crime. Ignorance in this regard is not bliss. There are a few reasons a person may not realize that their license is no longer valid. If you have moved and forgotten to update your address with the DMV, you may not receive your license renewal notice and it could have expired.
It could also be that unpaid traffic fines have gone to your previous address, and overdue fines can also lead to a license suspension.
Check online with DMV
The Department of Motor Vehicles in the state can validate whether a license is current and not suspended. For convenience, most states allow this validation to be done online.
These states offer an easy online suspension license check. Providing the driver’s license number returns information showing whether the license is currently valid. The check is applicable to driving permits, commercial driver’s licenses, motorcycle licenses, and non-driver ID cards. Where a state is not online, you can still go to the DMV website.
It is important to find out if there are any kind of blocks on your license and what fees you will need to pay in order to once again reinstate your important driving privileges.
