About DMV-Department of Motor Vehicles
What is the Department of Motor Vehicles?
DMV or the Department of Motor Vehicles as it is also known as, is
the nodal agency in the United States responsible for motor vehicle
identification and registration. This agency is the primary government wing
which people go to register their vehicles, get their licenses and renew the
driving permits when the time comes.
The DMV is therefore actively involved in issuing driving licenses to all
vehicles operating on roadways. Thus the owners of two tire, four tire as well
as heavy vehicles have to approach the DMV in obtaining their driving licenses.
The DMV, Department of Motor Vehicles is also actively involved in
vehicle inspections and ensuring that the concerned vehicles are road worthy
i.e. they are properly maintained and are not a danger to fellow drivers.
It is important to take note that along with the department of internal revenue
service, DMV is the government department which the vast majority of Americans
have to deal with most often. This is because vehicle inspection and license
renewal needs to be done at least annually, just like tax forms need to be
filled in annually.
DMV is not a branch of the federal government
Furthermore, it is important to note that there is no official department of
motor vehicles in the federal government of United States. It is not a
separate federal government wing like say the department of justice. Rather the
department of motor vehicle is a state government branch, which has
different names and titles in different states. In some states, it is known by
the name of department of motor vehicles only, while in other states it
is known by different names such as division of motor vehicles or office of
motor vehicles or bureau of motor vehicles etc. It will be of further interest
to the readers to note that in some states, there is no department of motor
vehicles at all. Rather in such states, the duties and responsibilities of
vehicle registration, issuance of driver’s licenses are done by some other
department of state. That being said, it is quite clear by now, that the federal
government of the United States has no role whatsoever in the monitoring of
driver’s licenses or registering the vehicles. The entire onus on doing so falls
squarely on the shoulders of the state government.
Roles and Duties of DMV
The department of motor vehicles is also the de facto organization
issuing identity cards to citizens of United States. This is due to the fact
that the United States does not have any national authority issuing identity
cards to its citizens. As such the driver’s license in essence becomes his/her
identity card for all official matters. The department of motor vehicle
in each state is therefore responsible for conducting background checks on a
person before issuing his/her identity card.
The department of motor vehicles also has its own law enforcement
officers. The law enforcement officers working with the department of motor
vehicles are involved in investigating cases of vehicle thefts as well as
vehicle licensing. They are also involved in prosecuting cases of drunk driving
or driving under the influence (DUI).