Is your driver's license suspended? You might not even know
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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."
Who or what removed all the comments on this story? Is there a new Homeland Security law that censors any and all puplic criticism of the DMV for reasons of National Security? I understand that. No doubt, with the bad economy, the Ore. DMV has a lot of enemies, who are at wits end and ready to snap. I do not want to see any of the front line people at our local DMV being targets. I think they are brave and good public servants handcuffed by an incompetent, impersonal, and cold bureaucracy. Anyone out there want to hop into a car with a dizzy teenager everyday for a living? For that task I salute them. I can also sympathize with the police authorities and taxpayers that have to pick up the bill for all of the uncovered drivers out there. It appears to be a utilitarian catch 22 situation that sacrifices the few for the greater good.
Hopefully, the higher ranking DMV officials have harvested the constructive greivances and just criticism since removed from this thread, and will make policies and contingencies to help the general public simmer down. Because, it is blatently obvious that far too many people's blood is boiling out of control. Censor away DMV. But here our cries! Â