Is your driver's license suspended? You might not even know
Watch KVAL News @ 5, 6 and 11 and this website for more on this story
EUGENE, Ore. - Daniel Williams had no idea his driver's license was suspended until a policeman wrote him a ticket for driving with a suspended license.
"The ticket is for $435," Williams told KVAL News. "On the ticket, why my license was suspended was for fail to furnish random sample on 1-3-2013."
The Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles sends out hundreds of notices each month requiring drivers to respond with proof of liability insurance on their vehicles.
"I have proof of insurance that I presented to the officer at the time of this random sample that I was supposed to respond to," Williams told KVAL News.
But it turns out the proof in your wallet doesn't matter if your license has already been suspended.
Drivers have 30 days to respond to the first notice before a second one is issued - followed by a 30-day notice of suspension.
Williams never got any notices from the DMV, and he thinks he knows why.
"I did two change of addresses since I've been back from Phoenix, Arizona, and they recorded both of them improperly at the DMV," he said. "I just can't imagine that this is doing any good except for making honest people pay money when they get caught with an invalid address."
KVAL News asked the DMV about the situation. A spokesman said the system isn't perfect but that it is up to each driver to make sure the DMV has your correct address.
"We still regret that. We don't want mistakes," said David House with DMV. "We want our data to be up to date to avoid just this kind of a situation."
Williams has a court date January 30. He plans to contest the ticket.
But even if it is dropped, Williams said he is not happy about having to take two days off from work to deal with the situation.
"I don't want this on my record. This is something that should have never been given to me in the first place," he said. "I've paid insurance for as long as I can remember, and I've always driven legally."
I was audited 2 years in a row by the DMV these last 2 years and was able to contact them and verify my proof of insurance. On the second audit, I was out of the country for a long time looking for work and returned just in time to call them before a suspension took affect. Had I returned a day later, my license would have been suspended.
Driving with an international license requires my Oregon license to be UNsuspended. Since I don't want to go to jail in a foreign country because of another audit I cannot respond to from China or Japan, I had to get rid of my car and get a bike and an electric skateboard in MY country, so I can keep my driving rights in all others.
Let's fire the DMV and make them live in a foreign country to get a job AND then blindside them with an audit so they go to jail in Japan or China or better yet a Mexican prison. Ore DMV is incompetent & merciless. I have lost everything in that 311 earthquake and triple meltdown (my life of 20 years was 100k) from Fukushima, AND now the Oregon DMV Fs up my driving rights. Shame on you DMV! Why aren't people rioting over your abuses?Â
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When I saw this report, it honestly scared me. I moved to Oregon 10 years ago and got my license within a week of my arrival. When I got the license, the space number was missing from the address. I filled out the "Change of Address" form twice and each time, the new sticker arrived without the space number, exactly as it was on the original license. After 2 attempts, I gave up and just left the address as it was. When my license renewal came up, I asked for the address to be fixed. The address is correct on the temporary paper license they gave me but when the permanent license, came, the address is still wrong. I took it back to the DMV, permanent license and temporary license and asked for it to be fixed. They assured me they would fix it and mail me a new permanent license. New license arrived, still not correct.Â
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Just because you have not had a problem with the DMV does not mean that everyone else is that lucky. There are a lot of us that have had lots and lots of problems.Â
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This government organization needs a complete overhaul. You can not continue to "do as you please" and get away with it. I understand driving is a privilege but you can not act like the wicked step-mother and just take away what someone has worked and paid for. I paid for my license and the privilege to drive, don't assume you can just take it away at a whim.Â
@FlyTyer ---they assume it and they do it. Especially when you are not in the country and have no way of knowing what thay already did.
Most governments motto is: Do as we say not as we do"Â Â Â This is just the a lack of integrity, morals and values, by the people who work for the state!
I'm surprised at how many people are okay with the DMV mailing out such an important letter, non certified mail.
It's not even about if the DMV has your address correct, that just happened to be the case with me. Sending something like this, non certified, means they don't know if your mailman lost the letter, it was stolen, fell out of the truck, got misdelivered, or any other number of factors that causes non certified letters to become lost on a daily basis. Unless of course you have convinced yourself that USPS never makes mistakes.
Since the DMV 'hires' incarcerated felons to run their DMV call center, maybe there is a reason 'errors' creep in...
Oregon Corrections Enterprises (OCE)
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Yet another victim of the parasitic police state.
Police have time for "random" crap like this?  We pay taxes!  Why do we need police or a jail at all if they are letting dangerous people out, yet have time to fine this TAX PAYING CITIZEN?  I'm tired of being robbed losing my investments up front, paying the police to come over and tell me there really is nothing they can do, then pay them to catch the guy, then pay the judge and court fees, criminal's defense lawyer, then the jailhouse and paper/administration fees there, only to LET THEM OUT WITHIN THE DAY!!!!!!!!!!! On top of my tax money going to shed blood in countries that congress doesn't claim we are at war with? WHY IS THIS NOT BEING ADDRESSED AS A COMPLETE NATIONAL CRISIS? Some relief fund for storm victims is great, but why not for things like this? This isn't a natural disaster, but a man made one from greed and policy. Time to stop wasting tax money people! Go tell you local leaders, police, courthouse, etc, etc, but don't stay after hours and protest peacefully cause you will be arrested, probably while someone is robbing your house! Good work USA and the town of Eugene:)
 @Joeblow If you aren't even sure the difference between the DMV and the police, what makes you so knowledgeable that people should listen to you about what is important? How can you judge the relative importance of governmental functions when you don't even know what the parts are?
@SkinnersGhost When the DMV reacts it reacts to the decision made by the law enforcement branch. It does not come up with a legal enforcing punishment without it being approved & acted upon by law enforcement first. Look at it this way, law enforcement is the DMV's 'notifying' branch. However we all make mistakes including those in the DMV & law enforcement, no less than the common citizen this story is about. But since the common citizen is not allowed to police themself & instead are policed by 'others' which happens to be those that are 'ONLY' policed 'by themselves' IE: (Government), this common citizen is as much SOL as the "NEXT!" in line at the DMV.
What happened to the State Insurance Database? Â They used to have one that would indicate if a person was insured or not. Â Police could call it in to dispatch to verify it, but rarely did because they apparently gleaned some sort of zeal out of having people's cars towed and impounded.
As for "scruffy" young people, I totally agree. Â Let's start with that Jesus character. Â A long haired hippy like that was obviously up to no good and is a poor role model for other young people.
 @Arch Stanton That is the real [non-]story here. Some guy put in a change of address, and though either their fault or his fault the address was recorded incorrectly. Which he was aware of, but did not correct. So then since he wasn't in the database correctly, the computer said he wasn't insured. So they sent notices, which he didn't get because the address was more than a little bit wrong.
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So there is no zeal here. And please note, the police did what they were supposed to do, and cited a suspended driver for driving while suspended. It was the DMV that did the check and suspended the driver.
 @SkinnersGhost  @Arch Stanton At no time was I aware that the change of address was recorded incorrectly. I got a ride straight to the DMV after the incident and the DMV admitted to their mistake and gave me a new license. I don't know where you are piecing together that I was aware of an incorrect address.
@Danny Williams @SkinnersGhost @Arch Stanton ---and when the DMV screws up, why can't we extract a financial penalty from them. It should be a two-way street! Pun intended.
The DMV has an incredibly flawed system.
 Where I work there was some conversation recently regarding changing addresses with DMV: they will NOT record a new address for you, mail your new tags, license etc, if there is a forward for ANYONE at the ânew â address. A HUGE catch 22 for anyone trying to get DMV mail when you move, if where you are moving to had other occupants who also have moved. Figure THAT one out!
So donât be so quick to assume this guy is trying to pull one over, or anything It is, as I said, a flawed system.
 @angelgabe When there is a problem with the automated address change system, which has safeguards in response to real past problems and abuses, you simply go into the DMV with a piece of mail showing the new address and they updated it.
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You'll know if you're getting the real story if they explain what to do instead. When you just hear, "they will NOT..." and what they won't do is a regular thing, you can be pretty sure you're playing a game of "telephone."
DMV sends out requests for proof of insurance randomly? I've never had one of these requests in 30 years. Then again, I don't do a whole lot of business with DMV, having changed my address twice in those 30 years, and selling a few vehicles. And, we have only had two different insurance companies in those 30 years. So each time we renew our vehicle registrations, the info stays the same. It's interesting to me that this is supposed to be random but just happens to snag a guy that's moved around and made address changes that just happen to be recorded incorrectly. Are the police out there looking for these vehicles with no proof of insurance to ticket?
 @Just me Somebody I know gets them all the time.
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The way to avoid getting them is to have a correct address on your license, and have insurance for all the vehicles registered in your name. If you have vehicles registered that [you lie and claim] are just parked off the street all the time and don't get moved on the public roadways, then you are legal in not having insurance. But you'll get a lot of these notices to respond to.
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Also sometimes people get them when they insure themselves ["their license"] instead of insuring their car.
When you give the DMV a change of Address and you do not receive a sticker in the mail with your updated location within 2 weeks, you need to go back to the DMV and make sure the new Address was entered correctly and have them fix any mistakes. I have moved several times and have never had a problem. Also, keep a record of any changes you make at the DMV, it will make all the difference if they do make a mistake and it gets you in hot water.
@catzmeow I understand what your saying but I shouldn't have to prove ANYTHING to this government or have to do there damn job.
 @catzmeow Yep, absolutely correct, and I know this now. Good lesson learned here despite being "scruffy" :PGoing to school states away and coming back after graduation, things were a bit hectic, and this oversight might cost me $435, but I'm hoping to get this dismissed.
 @Danny Williams  @catzmeow The Cop should have the power to override it if you show him proof that you had insurance.
"I did two change of addresses since I've been back from Phoenix, Arizona, and they recorded both of them improperly at the DMV,". Sorry, but I find it hard to believe that TWO errors on addresses are the DMV's fault. If you give them the wrong address, it will be recorded wrong. Why were you giving bogus addresses?
 @JCB Both addresses were for the same apartment complex. Two different apartment numbers (while I was waiting on my townhouse). The DMV showed me that they never recorded an APT # and I brought my proof of a proper change of address. I love the way some people will assume somebody is automatically in the wrong based on their appearance, it speaks zounds about them.
@Danny Williams @JCB Glad your watching this post to set the record straight. Just remember when your reading some of these post that "you can't fix stupid". What I want to know Danny is if there going to try to make you pay the reinstatement fee to get you licence back?
 @RougeCoyote  @Danny Reading the comments, it seems I had this coming due to being scruffy, which naturally is an accurate indication that I am a liar :P
Nice to know that you can be educated, have a great job, pay taxes, pay for insurance, submit a proper change of address, and when the DMV records it wrong, it is your own fault, with the caveat that you must be scruffy.
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To be clear, I have learned my lesson here and catzmeow is correct: "When you give the DMV a change of Address and you do not receive a sticker in the mail with your updated location within 2 weeks, you need to go back to the DMV and make sure the new Address was entered correctly and have them fix any mistakes."
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With that being said, I also believe that this is a ridiculous practice, and I have my doubts that anybody driving illegally is returning this letter to the DMV indicating so. I also think that a piece of mail that is this important needs to be sent by way of certified mail so that you must sign for it and there will be no doubt that it wasn't lost in the mail system for any number of reasons.
@Danny Williams Thats just not right.
 @RougeCoyote No reinstatement fee, since they corrected the mistake made on their side. I did have to pay $26 for a replacement license though since I physically no longer had mine (the officer had to take it since it was indeed suspended at the time).
"DMV about the situation. A spokesman said the system isn't perfect but that it is up to each driver to make sure the DMV has your correct address."Â This is the kind of asinine remark I hate! Daniel Williams did exactly what he was supposed to do by submitting a change of address each time but the DMV employee did NOT DO what he/she was PAID to do - proof of that is that DMV had his 2 address changes but keyed the information wrong. Many years ago (this was long before Internet and online banking), I went into my bank and gave the teller my change of address; I watched her write it down on a piece of paper. For the next 2 months I didn't get my bank statement. I called the bank to ask about it and was told that my statements had been mailed out as usual. I asked what address they sent them to and they still had my old address. I told this "customer service" person that I had been in the bank and had personally given a teller my new address and watched her write it down. This "customer service" person had the BALLS to say, "You should have stood there and made sure she typed it into the system" REALLY!!!! I'm supposed to make sure the teller does the job she got PAID to do??? I told this "customer service" person that I wanted supervisor pay if I have to that! The "customer service" person hung up on me.
 @CaptchaThis Actually if you enter the change of address into the website no employee is typing them in at all for them to make the mistake. As long as the address is a real address the change of address will show up in the mail. If it is a fake address not known to the USPS, it won't.
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A past bank teller getting an address wrong is truly a tragic tale of woe. Not sure what it has to do with the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles, though. Except if you mean, people make mistakes. Yes. And knowing that people make mistakes, and that some people make mistakes more often than others, I would say... I never have problems with change of address forms at the DMV. So either they make extra mistakes just for this guy, or he actually filled out the forms wrong.
 @SkinnersGhost  @CaptchaThis Oh, I get it. Ghost boy works for the DMV.
@SkinnersGhost @CaptchaThis Skinner.....your an idiot
 @SkinnersGhost  @CaptchaThis Can you explain their mistake this time then? I have proof of my proper change of address. They recorded all but the APT #.
 @CaptchaThis Spent 2 years fighting with Bank of America over this very situation. They never got it right and I had to close my account.
Oh baloney.  Oregon law states that DMV MUST have your CURRENT address within 30 days of moving, PERIOD. This kids whining about being caught ignoring the law, what else is new?  It's about time the "scruffy" young people in our society decided to join the rest of us in following the rules.
@thisBITES! I wish I could be around when this kind of stuff happens to you you jerk
 @thisBITES! Another person willing to pass judgement based on appearance. That's sad, but not entirely surprising. Keep in mind the DMV has admitted and corrected their mistake already. They were also a lot more polite than you, and offered me an apology. What law did I ignore exactly?
 @thisBITES! I am often a bit scruffy, but I don't see what it has to do with making sure the DMV has my correct address.
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I thought it was my parents' generation who already got past the idea that crime is caused by long hair. ;)
Other than as a ticket generator, I fail to understand the value of the random notices....I got one years ago and responded but it still seems like a waste of postage EXCEPT to give more opportunities for $435.00 tickets.
 @hewhoo Exactly, what non law abiding citizen that drives illegally is going to check a box stating that they are knowingly breaking the law, sign it, and mail it back to the DMV. It's more likely, somebody willing to drive illegally is also willing to lie on the random sample letter and state that they do not drive which is why they have no insurance policy numbers to submit.
@Danny Williams @hewhoo ---exactly to exactly. The Sheriff of Naughtingham knows he cannot generate nearly 1/2 a grand from all the losers out there that must drive uninsured because they cannot afford it.