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In the United States of America, Department of Motor Vehicles (or DMV) is a commonly used name of the government agency of a U.S. state which administers the registration of automobiles (e.g., by issuing license plates), and/or the licensing of drivers (e.g., by issuing driver's licenses). In some states, these two functions are performed by separate state agencies.

Contents 1 Terminology and organization 1.1 Names 1.2 Organization within the government 1.3 Jurisdiction and exceptions 2 Driver's licenses and identification 3 The DMV in popular culture 4 Equivalent agencies in other countries 5 External links 5.1 Official sites 5.2 References

Driver licensing and vehicle registration in the United States is handled by the state government in all states but Hawaii, where counties perform DMV functions. Although the federal government could theoretically take over such functions through its ability to regulate interstate commerce, it has refrained from doing so.

The phrase "DMV" is most commonly used to describe the agency (where it exists); however, diverse titles are used in different states:

State(s)	Agency Name
California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Nebraska, New York, Nevada (recent), South Carolina, Vermont[1], Virginia	Department of Motor Vehicles
Ohio, Indiana, Maine	Bureau of Motor Vehicles
Massachusetts	Registry of Motor Vehicles
Tennessee	Department of Revenue, Taxpayer and Vehicle Services Division
Oklahoma	Department of Public Safety
Alabama, Arizona, New Mexico	Motor Vehicle Division
Minnesota	Driver and Vehicle Services Division of the Department of Public Safety
Maryland	Motor Vehicle Administration
Louisiana	Office of Motor Vehicles
Michigan	Secretary of State
Illinois	Secretary of State, Vehicle Services Department and Driver Services Department
Kentucky	Transportation Cabinet
New Jersey	Motor Vehicle Commission (New Jersey has confusing titles for the high office holders in this part of government: The head of the New Jersey Department of Transportation is referred to as the "Commissioner," while the head of the MVC/MVS is referred to as the "Chief Administrator.")
Georgia	Department of Driver Services (Driver's Licenses) & Department of Revenue/local tax commissioners (vehicle registration/tags)
Nevada (historical)	Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety (former title of a department which has since been divided)
Washington	Department of Licensing. Additionally the DOL handles Boat, Business, and Professional[2]
Iowa	Department of Transportation
Oregon	Oregon Department of Transportation Driver and Motor Vehicles Services Division (DMV) [3]
Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
Texas	Texas Department of Transportation, Vehicle Title and Registration Services
North Dakota	Motor Vehicle Division (vehicle registrations), Drivers License and Traffic Safety Division (driver licensing)
Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Utah, Wisconsin	Division of Motor Vehicles (parent department varies)
Texas	Texas Department of Safety, Driver License Division
Florida	Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

Furthermore, there is much diversity in how the Department of Motor Vehicles (or equivalent) is situated within the structure of a state's government.

Hawaiʻi is the only U.S. state where no part of the state government performs DMV functions; it has completely delegated vehicle registration and driver licensing to county governments. In the City and County of Honolulu, the functions are further delegated to an office of the Department of Finance.

In Kentucky and Tennessee, the Transportation Cabinet and the Department of Revenue, Taxpayer Vehicle Serives Division respectively sets the policies and designs for licenses and vehicle registration, but the actual registration and licensing are handled by offices of the county governments.

In the District of Columbia, which is not part of any state, the DMV (formerly the Bureau of Motor Vehicle Services) is part of the city government.

In a few states, driver's licenses and vehicle registrations are handled by separate departments. For example, a separate department may administer vehicle inspection; for example, in Virginia, the Department of Motor Vehicles handles both driver licensing and vehicle registration, while the Virginia State Police and the Department of Environmental Quality administer safety inspection and emission inspection, respectively.

In others, the DMV is not a separate cabinet-level department, but instead is a division or bureau within a larger department. Examples of departments which perform DMV functions include the Department of Justice (Montana), the Department of Public Safety (Texas), the Department of Revenue (Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee), and the Department of Transportation (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Wisconsin). In New Hampshire, the Division of Motor Vehicles is a division of the Department of Safety. In Vermont, the Department of Motor Vehicles is a subunit of the state Agency of Transportation.

Some states do not separate DMV functions into distinct organizational entities at all, but simply bundle them into a laundry list of responsibilities assigned to an existing government agency. For example, in the state of Washington, the Department of Licensing is responsible for driver's licenses, and vehicle and boat registrations in addition to most other business and occupational licensing. In Michigan and Illinois, the Secretary of State's offices perform responsibilities which would be handled by the DMV in other states.

Usually, all long-term residents of a state who wish to operate motor vehicles must possess a driver's license issued by their state DMV, and their vehicles must show license plates (and current registration tags or stickers) issued by that agency.

The main exceptions to this rule are vehicles registered by the federal government. The Office of Foreign Missions at the U.S. Department of State has a Diplomatic Motor Vehicles program which issues driver's licenses to foreign diplomats and their dependents, registers their vehicles, and issues special "CONSUL" license plates. The General Services Administration issues vehicle plates for the federal vehicle fleet (although federal employees who drive must hold driver's licenses issued by their home state).

In some states, besides conducting the written and hands-on driving tests that are a prerequisite to earning a driver's license, DMVs also regulate private driving schools and their instructors.

DMVs with the responsibility of registering automobiles also track detailed vehicle information such as odometer history in order to prevent automobile-related crimes such as odometer fraud.

In countries with no national identification card (like the United States), driver's licenses have often become the de facto identification card for many purposes, and DMVs have effectively become the agency responsible for verifying identity in their respective states. See Identity documents in the United States.

Jokes about DMVs have become common (and even somewhat of a cliché) in American comedy, and DMVs are often the subject of satire in television shows and movies. Humor about long lines, unenthusiastic employees and departmental policies is common, as are stereotypical depictions of driving testers, usually portrayed as unsympathetic and callous.

The American rock band Primus released a song called DMV on their 1993 album Pork Soda with lyrics such as "I've been to hell they spell it, they spell it DMV" and "If I had a choice, I'd screw a chimpanzee".

In the American cartoon Megas XLR (aired on the Cartoon Network), the main character, Coop, has his giant robot towed for parking in the wrong place, and is forced to go to the DMV when he finds out his license has expired. He is noted as saying, several times throughout the episode, "I hate the DMV!"

In the TV series The Simpsons, Marge Simpson's sisters, Patty and Selma Bouvier work at the DMV. The series pokes fun at waiting times with comments such as "Now we just have to laminate your drivers license, you will receive it in two to three weeks" or, "On some days, we don't let the line move at all. We call them 'weekdays'." The two sisters, despite being somewhat unprofessional from their lazy, and generally unenthusiastic behavior seem to enjoy the suffering and displeasure of their customers.

In an episode of Married... with Children, Al has to go to the DMV. Apart from noticing that the common language in the DMV seems to be Spanish, he has to face his son's revenge, who found a job as driving tester there, for the very fact that he made him find himself a job. In later episodes, Bud kept that job and reported from various uncomfortable and bizarre events.

In the TV series "Reaper", after Sam captures an escaped soul from Hell in a vessal, he goes to the DMV where there's a portal to send the soul back to Hell.

In the short play DMV Tyrant by Christopher Durang, a man unsuccessfully attempts to renew his driver’s license, eventually concluding that moving out of New York will be a more effective solution than continuing negotiation with the DMV.

In a recent Punk'd episode, Kutcher mathematically teamed up with DMV when they pranked Sugar Ray Leonard.[1]

Paul Graham has commented that "You could probably write a book about how to succeed in business by doing everything in exactly the opposite way from the DMV."

In the TV series That '70s Show, Fez (Wilmer Valderrama) works at the DMV. [2]

Australia

• Queensland - Queensland Transport
• New South Wales - Roads and Traffic Authority
• ACT - Road Transport Authority
• Victoria - Vicroads
• Tasmania - Department of Infrastructure, Energy & Resources
• South Australia - Transport SA
• Northern Territory - Motor Vehicle Registry
• Western Australia - Department for Planning and Infrastructure

• United Kingdom – Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
• Canada (Province of New Brunswick) - Service New Brunswick (performs other functions as well)
• Canada (Province of Ontario) - Ministry of Transportation (Ontario) (MTO)
• Canada (Province of Québec) - Société de l'Assurance Automobile du Québec
• Canada (Province of Saskatchewan) - Saskatchwean Auto Fund, a division of Saskatchewan Government Insurance
• Bulgaria - Traffic Police
• Germany - Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA)
• Norway - Statens vegvesen
• Sweden – Swedish National Road Administration
• Spain - Dirección General de Tráfico
• Brazil - At national level, DENATRAN, that coordinates all governamental effort. But each state has it own DETRAN (such as DETRAN-SP, that belongs to state of São Paulo), that manages actual registration of vehicles, emission of driver's licenses, etc.
• Israel - Office Of Licensing (Hebrew: משרד הרישוי)

• American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators
• 50 State DMV links
• German Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, with information in English

1. ^ Vermont's DMV is a subunit of the state Agency of Transportation
2. ^ Washington State list of licenses
3. ^ Oregon DOT DMV