On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 08:36:44 -0700, Ramon F Herrera
wrote:
>On Jun 19, 10:28 am, "sharx35" wrote:
>> "Ramon F Herrera" wrote in messagenews:1182266743.224746.17520@p77g2000hsh.googlegroups.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.
>>
>> 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?
Recipocity is generally required among states, which are
constitutionally required to accord "full faith and credit" to
the actions of other states.
No matter where you own property, most states require you to
acquire a local DL and license plates if you are effectively
resident in that state, usually within ten or thirty days or so.
What, exactly, constitutes residency is a tougher question. Armed
services personnel aren't usually considered resident, nor are
college students even if they are in Texas more than they are
their home state. And, here in the Southwest, snowbirds, winter
residents, aren't considered resident although, truth be told,
some of them spend more time in Arizona than in their home
states. Niether are long term tourists.
But if you take a job in Texas, you are almost certainly
considered a resident.
Now the police aren't generally going to take a lot of time
looking for people to cite about this. If they stop you it's a
simple matter to tell them you're just visiting, should they ask.
Unless they have some definite evidence you should have Texas DL
and plates, they're not going to do anything.
On the other hand, when I first moved to Arizona I got a job at
Hughes Aircraft here. I found that the county's sheriff's
deputies lurked out on the main road, and if you were seen coming
out of the Hughes parking lot with a non-Arizona license plate
they stopped you and issued a citation.
Other thibngs might arouse suspicion. If, say, the police run a
speed trap along a certain highway and notice that you pass by
every morning at 7:38 and have out-of-state plates, they may find
a reason to stop you and check you out.
--
************* DAVE HATUNEN (hatunen@cox.net) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps * |
