Carrying driver's licenses across states?

On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 16:42:21 -0400, Dave Smith wrote:

... as soon as you take up residence in Texas you are no longer a
resident.

This law was drafted by then-Governor George W. Bush, right?

-- Larry

On Jun 19, 10:36 am, Ramon F Herrera wrote:
On Jun 19, 10:28 am, "sharx35" wrote:





"Ramon F Herrera" wrote in oglegroups.com...

I keep on hearing unsubstantiated and contradictory information about
using a valid driver's license across the USA. My DL was issued in
Massachusetts and will expire in 2009. In the last 2 years I have
driven about 70K+ miles, across some 30 states, and now I have a
postal address in Texas.

I am told told by a friend, a TX resident, that my MA driver's license
(same as foreign country licenses) is only good for 30 days. However,
cops have seen my license and didn't have any problem with it.

Another version that I find hard to believe: my friend says that TX
accepts licenses only from states or countries which accepts TX-issued
DLs. I didn't know that reciprocity applied here. Since when is TX in
the business of making international reciprocity agreements? That is a
federal issue. I claim that the driver's licenses issued by any US
state can be used in all US states, with no need for bilateral
negotiations.

-Ramon

Your MA license is only good as long as YOU ARE A RESIDENT OF MA. If you
move elsewhere, e.g. to Texas, you have a short time, e.g. 30 days, to get a
license from your NEW state of residence. Period. End of discussion.

Well, the issue is whether I am a TX resident or not. I keep a MA
apartment and have a TX postal address. I have been staying in hotels
and at friends'.

The other part of my question is still open: is there some sort of
reciprocity. Is there any case in which DLs from one state are not
accepted by other state?

-Ramon- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Re residency:
-- Where do you pay your state taxes?
-- In which state is your primary source of income earned?
-- In which state do you (if you) vote?
-- In which state do you spend the most nights, of all your
locations?

Answer those, and that's where you are an official resident. If more
than one (highly improbable, but possible) then you are a dual
resident. In that case, you should be sharing your taxes between the
two states, and you (oh gee!) get to choose which is the primary of
the dual residence, and hence receive your license application money.

"J. Clarke" wrote:


Anyway, I'll just get the license since I have been spending longer
time around the Lone Star.

If it becomes an issue then their lawyer is going to be arguing one date
and yours is going to be arguing another and the judge is going to
decide which applies.

Over the years that I worked in vehicle enforcement I came across several
situations where a driver had a licence in one jurisdiction and I was
pretty sure he lived in another. I never laid the charge because I had no
proof that he was not a resident of the issuing state or province. However,
there were a couple of cases where their licence from here was under
suspension. There are reciprocal suspension agreements, so if you are
suspended her you are suspended there, and it is a separate violation to
drive here with a licence from another jurisdiction if you are suspended
here.

In message Dave Smith
wrote:

"J. Clarke" wrote:


Anyway, I'll just get the license since I have been spending longer
time around the Lone Star.

If it becomes an issue then their lawyer is going to be arguing one date
and yours is going to be arguing another and the judge is going to
decide which applies.

Over the years that I worked in vehicle enforcement I came across several
situations where a driver had a licence in one jurisdiction and I was
pretty sure he lived in another. I never laid the charge because I had no
proof that he was not a resident of the issuing state or province. However,
there were a couple of cases where their licence from here was under
suspension. There are reciprocal suspension agreements, so if you are
suspended her you are suspended there, and it is a separate violation to
drive here with a licence from another jurisdiction if you are suspended
here.

Why would you need reciprocal suspension agreements? Either a driver's
license is valid, in which case they can drive where a reciprocal
agreement exists, or it's not, in which case they can't drive anywhere
that requires licensing.

Either that, or I missed a nuance of the American system.

--
If quitters never win, and winners never quit,
what fool came up with, "Quit while you're ahead"?

On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 12:16:17 -0400, "J. Clarke"
wrote:


If you have dual residency and this is going to continue for a long
period of time then you should probably consult a lawyer.

However in practice unless the cop is "throwing the book at you" it's a
non-issue.

If the law is anything like the law here - it will become a
major issue if you have an accident involving injury to
anyone.

Then you are in danger of finding you were committing an
offence "driving while unlicenced" with resultant risks of
also becoming automatically uninsured and personally liable
for major damages and medical costs and possibly even
criminal charges.

Consult the MA and TX authorities for a specific written
ruling.

Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/
latest: Slovenia
http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/

Alan S wrote:
On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 12:16:17 -0400, "J. Clarke"
wrote:


If you have dual residency and this is going to continue for a long
period of time then you should probably consult a lawyer.

However in practice unless the cop is "throwing the book at you"
it's a non-issue.

If the law is anything like the law here - it will become a
major issue if you have an accident involving injury to
anyone.

Then you are in danger of finding you were committing an
offence "driving while unlicenced" with resultant risks of
also becoming automatically uninsured and personally liable
for major damages and medical costs and possibly even
criminal charges.

In other words it becomes an issue when the cop decides to make an issue
of it.

Consult the MA and TX authorities for a specific written
ruling.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

DevilsPGD wrote:


Why would you need reciprocal suspension agreements? Either a driver's
license is valid, in which case they can drive where a reciprocal
agreement exists, or it's not, in which case they can't drive anywhere
that requires licensing.

Either that, or I missed a nuance of the American system.

You can have your licence suspended in a jurisdiction other than the one in
which you are licence. Suppose you have a NY licence and get a ticket in
Ontario, or some other US state. You ignore the ticket thinking that they
won't do anything to you because you are out of state. Ontario (or other
state) suspends your licence, even thought you don't have one there. Your
NY licence is suspended.

On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 21:34:49 -0400, "J. Clarke"
wrote:

Alan S wrote:
On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 12:16:17 -0400, "J. Clarke"
wrote:


If you have dual residency and this is going to continue for a long
period of time then you should probably consult a lawyer.

However in practice unless the cop is "throwing the book at you"
it's a non-issue.

If the law is anything like the law here - it will become a
major issue if you have an accident involving injury to
anyone.

Then you are in danger of finding you were committing an
offence "driving while unlicenced" with resultant risks of
also becoming automatically uninsured and personally liable
for major damages and medical costs and possibly even
criminal charges.

In other words it becomes an issue when the cop decides to make an issue
of it.

No, not the cop. The courts and insurance companies; much
more expensive than cops. by "charges" I meant money, not
citations.



Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/
latest: Slovenia
http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/

Alan S wrote:
On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 21:34:49 -0400, "J. Clarke"
wrote:

Alan S wrote:
On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 12:16:17 -0400, "J. Clarke"
wrote:


If you have dual residency and this is going to continue for a long
period of time then you should probably consult a lawyer.

However in practice unless the cop is "throwing the book at you"
it's a non-issue.

If the law is anything like the law here - it will become a
major issue if you have an accident involving injury to
anyone.

Then you are in danger of finding you were committing an
offence "driving while unlicenced" with resultant risks of
also becoming automatically uninsured and personally liable
for major damages and medical costs and possibly even
criminal charges.

In other words it becomes an issue when the cop decides to make an
issue of it.

No, not the cop. The courts and insurance companies; much
more expensive than cops. by "charges" I meant money, not
citations.

If there is no citation then how do the courts get involved?

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 23:08:40 -0400, "J. Clarke"
wrote:
If there is no citation then how do the courts get involved?

--
If there is an accident there can be a civil suit. No criminal
charges are required for a civil suit if he injures someone. Normally
his insurance would defend him. BUT, if the insurance determined he
was driving without a valid license (because he should have had a TX
license), they might decline. Then he is personally on the hook as a
defendant.

As others have pointed out, most states have a specified grace period
before which new residents have to get driving licenses and car tabs
issued. He seems to be claiming some sort of dual residency - I
wonder if his insurance company knows he has a postal address in TX
and has been staying in hotels and with friends. Is he living there,
or vacationing?