Today's New York Times reports on a car accident that happened
yesterday where the driver's license had been suspended and that he
had 11 suspensions or citations in the last three years with the most
recent on June 26 according to the State DMV.

My question is, can an ordinary citizen get such information? I am
aware of Freedom of Information Law requests but I thought they take
much longer and didn't know if such information is FOILable.

gollum9701-ga,


The Federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act restricts the information
that can be widely released by a state DMV, but does not shut off the
flow entirely.

As a rule of thumb, a state DMV will not release personal information
about an individual (telephone number, social security number, etc) in
response to an inquiry from the public (though there are exceptions
even to this restriction, known as 'permissible use' exceptions).

They will, however, provide what is called a "masked abstract" of a
driver's record upn request.  This does not include privacy
information, but does include the details of a driver's history,
including convictions, accidents, suspensions, and revocations.

I'm sure the NY Times and other news media have folks stationed near
the DMV records office in Albany who can access records on a walk-in
basis.  The public can do this as well, though it's probably easier to
get records by mail (there is no provision for online access).

Take a look at the following DMV publications and forms in order to get started:




http://www.nysdmv.com/qaprive.htm
New York State Department of Motor Vehicles
Driver's Privacy Protection Act


What information does the DPPA allow the DMV to release?

The DMV can release records that include personal information. The
person who requests the information must have a permissible use.

You can request a driver abstract that does not include personal
information (a masked abstract). A masked abstract contains
information about the driver license class, convictions, accidents,
suspensions, and revocations. It does not contain personal information
about the driver. A masked abstract is only available by mail or at
the DMV Central Office in Albany.


===============


http://www.nysdmv.com/abstract.htm
Important Information about Privacy and Access to DMV Records

DMV Records That Are Available

The DMV records that are frequently requested are driver abstracts,
registration abstracts, title abstracts, and accident reports. You can
use form MV-15 (Request for Driver and/or Vehicle Information) to
request many types of DMV records. You can use form MV-198C (Request
for Copy of Accident Report) to request a copy of an accident report
that a motorist or the police filed with the DMV.


===============


The forms mentioned above are available here:


Form MV-15
http://www.nysdmv.com/forms.htm#mv-15


Form MV-198C 
http://www.nysdmv.com/forms.htm#mv198c



Note that there are small fees associated with the information
requests, depending on what's being asked for.


I trust that's the information you needed.  However, if there's
anything else I can do for you, just let me know by posting a Request
for Clarification, and I'm at your service.


Cheers,

pafalafa-ga


search strategy -- Google search on [ NY DMV ]

Very good