Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 27, 1993                   TAG: 9310270043
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Ed Shamy
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IT'S ONE ROUTE OPEN TO MANY - BUT NOT TO YOU

But you can't.

A prospective employer can call the DMV for a job applicant's driving record.

But you can't.

A cop or a prosecutor can get a suspect's driving record.

But you can't.

A bank can get a license plate number and lien status for a client's car.

But you can't.

A car manufacturer can get all of the names and addresses of Virginians driving a specific make or model.

You can't.

You just don't figure prominently in the DMV's release of information.

About all you can get is information about yourself, useful data in the event you emerge from a coma having forgotten your address or the date of your last speeding ticket.

But if you want to know if your neighbor, or your girlfriend, or your father, or the driver with whom you carpool has a valid driver's license, you're out of luck unless you're ready to play a needless game of courthouse cat and mouse with the government.

Court records are public, but each jurisdiction maintains its own records.

For motor vehicle offenses, for license suspensions and revocations, only the DMV maintains a master list.

Under the 16-year-old Privacy Protection Act, that information is available to every organization under the sun - but not to you.

You, who can call the State Corporation Commission to see if a company is properly registered, can't be told if the guy who owns the business has a valid driver's license.

You, who can call the state Bar Association to see if a lawyer is in good standing, can't find out the status of his license.

You, who can easily find out how much your neighbors' home is worth and how much they pay in property taxes, have no idea whether they legally drive down the street where your children play.

Oh sure, you could play the idiotic game. You could check the records in each of the 95 county courthouses and 41 city courthouses in Virginia - only the court where the license was suspended or revoked would have a record.

Does John Doe have a valid driver's license? Yes or no?

Only those willing to search 136 courthouses have the right to know.

The information languishes in a DMV computer, available to inquiring employers and insurance carriers, but off-limits to you.

And so we have 665,000 Virginians with suspended driver's licenses, and we have cops and prosecutors and judges and legislators telling us there's no way to control them all - and you don't even have the right to know who they are.

You ought to. You ought to be able to ask the DMV the status of any Virginia driver's license and get an answer.

You ought to be entitled to know the date and jurisdiction of the suspension, so that if you want to know why the license was suspended, you can sift through the court records yourself.

The DMV is now re-examining its privacy protection policy, accepting public comment until Nov. 22.

They ought to hear from you.

Write to Judy Vesely, DMV Policy Analyst, Room 321, P.O. Box 27412, Richmond 23269.