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Driver License Compact

The Driver License Compact, often referred to as the Interstate Driver License Compact, is basically an agreement between each of the 45 member states including the District of Columbia to exchange information regarding certain traffic violations including DUI, DWI offenses and vehicular manslaughter with each of the member states.

For example if you are arrested for DUI in the state of Colorado, but you live in Arizona, the state of Colorado will inform the state of Arizona of the DUI offense and Arizona will treat the DUI arrest as if it happened in the state of Arizona.

In its most basic form, the Driver License Compact basically says that an individual has only one drivers license record or driving record.

Originally the Driver License Compact only dealt with serious offenses, such as drunk driving, but now any traffic violation that happens in a non-resident state will be reported back to the driver’s state of residence. So if someone is stopped for speeding in the state of Florida, but they live in Texas the violation and the points will be assessed to their Texas driver’s license.

Not every driving offense will transfer back to a driver’s home state. For instance a careless driving offense in one state may not transfer back to the driver’s home state if that state does not have a statute for such an offense. Therefore no action will be taken by the driver’s home state regarding such an offense.

The Driver License Compact was formed in 1961 with the state of Nevada becoming the first member state. A total of 27 states joined the Driver License Compact during the 1960’s. During the 1970’s only 3 states joined and another 9 in the 1980’s. In the 1990’s another 6 states joined and the state of Tennessee dropped out of the Driver License Compact in 1997.

Bringing the total number of Driver License Compact member states to its current number of 45, including the District of Columbia. The last state to join the Driver License Compact was Kentucky in 1996.

Driver License Compact Member States

The five states that are not members of the Driver License Compact are: Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

The Driver License Compact is no longer being pushed and will be replaced by the DLA or Driver License Agreement over time. There are currently three states that are members of the DLA: Connecticut, Arkansas and Massachusetts.

The Driver License Agreement imposes much tougher fines and penalties against drivers that commit violations covered under the DLA. For example a person driving through a DLA member state that gets stopped for illegally tinted windows, i.e. the window tint is darker than that state allows, but the window tint meets the drivers home state laws for window tinting.

The driver will face fines and penalties from the state where the violation occurred and will have to remove the window tint from the vehicle when the driver returns to their home state to meet the state laws where the violation occurred even though the driver has left the state where the violation occurred.