Community Forums

danes-on-tour · 01-10-2014, 07:42 PM

Still trying to get to grips with this issue, and I am still struggling.

Let me make up a story for you:

Uncel Joe is a resident of Oregon. He owns a large Class A (large being a motorhome weighing in at over 26,000 pounds). He wants to visit a relative in Alabama is going to drive his motorhome there.

Neither Oregon or Alabama requires any form of "extra" driving skills to operate a plus 26,000 pound RV - RV Driver's License Requirements , but Uncle Joe will pass through Nevada, New Mexico and Texas on his way, and all 3 states lists on their DMV page that special licenses or endorsements are required. Their requirements are all slightly different.

Does this mean that Uncle Joe can not drive his RV through these states at all? He could offer to take a test in any of the 3 mentioned states, but I doubt if any of them would be able to add qualifications or endorsements to Uncle Joe's Oregon issued drivers license.

A friend suggested that if Uncle Joe is qualified to drive his RV in his own state with his local drivers license, he will be able to pass through the said states without any additional qualifications, and that the individual state requirements only applies to people residing permanently in the individual states.

I have written to the Texas DMV who specifically invites you to write to them if you are in any doubt whatsoever. 3 weeks on I am still waiting for their answer. Maybe they don't know themselves?

Does any of you have actual and verified knowledge of this issue?

Mac99 · 01-10-2014, 07:47 PM

Your friend is correct. All states have reciprocity, if you are legal in
your state, then you are legal in all states.

FlyingDiver · 01-10-2014, 07:52 PM

If Uncle Joe is legal to drive his RV in Oregon (where he has his license), then he's legal to drive it anywhere in the US or Canada. It's called reciprocity.

BobGed · 01-10-2014, 08:11 PM

What the previous posters have said regarding reciprocity is correct, and includes vehicle registration and insurance. It does not cover other individual state restrictions, such as weight, height and length

Gary1965 · 01-10-2014, 09:47 PM

4th time is a charm. The 3 previous posts are correct.

Wayne M · 01-10-2014, 09:59 PM

5th time is good also. All states have reciprocity agreements for driver's licenses. Legal in one state, legal in all others.

That does not extend to towing (double, triple, etc), height, road weight restrictions, length, width, and maybe some I have missed. So if you are 10 feet wide trying to go through some other states 9.5 foot wide toll both and wipe it out, you have a problem.

TXiceman · 01-10-2014, 10:20 PM

And 6th. He will however be required to abide by all of each states laws regarding speeds, weight, length, double towing, etc.

Ken

gemini5362 · 01-10-2014, 10:42 PM

Let me add that all the above are correct. I will give you where to find the proof for that. You might want to read the United States Constitution The section you are interested in is the FULL FAITH AND CREDIT ACT. That is the provision that covers the question you ask.

That being said. There are police officers who really do not have a clue what the full faith and credit act means. I will give an example of what you can run into. We bought a new car in Arkansas which does not give temporary plates. It takes approximately a month for the paperwork to be completed to get the new plate. We went to see her mom and dad in the small town in Oklahoma they live in. A police officer pulled us over and asked for registration and insurance. I showed him the insurance and a copy of the bill of sale and explained that we were waiting for the plates. He wanted to know where our temporary plate was. I explained that arkansas does not give out plates and he proceeded to tell me that we were in oklahoma and oklahoma does have temp plates so we had to have one. My wife is licensed to practice law in Oklahoma told him he was wrong and they started to disagree. I basically just told him that I was not aware I had to have one in his town and apologized for not having it and assured him I would get one. The moral lesson of this story is that you only have to have the license that your home state issues. IF a cop tells you different then apologize for not realizing what his state requires and assure him you will do what you need to in order to be in compliance. If you get a ticket just call the prosecuting attorney. If he tries to put you in jail and tow your motor home call the state police.

Daveinet · 01-11-2014, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobGed

What the previous posters have said regarding reciprocity is correct, and includes vehicle registration and insurance. It does not cover other individual state restrictions, such as weight, height and length

This post could be misunderstood, depending on how it is read. If you mean that weight, height and length as unrelated to the driver's license, then yes, you are correct. Where the potential for confusion could be, would be that some states have driver's license restrictions based on weight. Those restrictions do not apply to the driver's license from another state.

Resiprocity exists in all states as far as your license is concerned. One of the reasons for that is that your home state does not have tests that would even apply to another states restrictions. So it would be impossible to comply.

This is all in the process of changing. There is strong pressure from the feds to have minimum requirements for driver's licenses for large vehicles. In the next few years, you will see states that currently have no restrictions, add these new restrictions to comply with federal requirements.

RustyJC · 01-11-2014, 06:49 AM

One primary reason that driver license reciprocity exists is that if one had to comply with each state's unique driver licensing laws, then one could conceivably carry 50 driver licenses. Then if one state suspended your license, no problem - you still have 49 others. This was a real problem with commercial driver licenses since if one state suspended an interstate trucker's license, he would just drive on another state's license.

To prevent this, the states adopted a driver license compact based on the principle that one driver should have only one license - that's why I had to surrender my Ohio license when we moved back to Texas and I applied for a Texas driver license. Under this compact, the states exchange traffic violation information (if you're caught speeding in state Y, then it's reported to your home state X as a moving traffic violation that goes against your license).

So, to answer your question, if you're legally licensed in Oregon, then your license will be recognized in the other states through which you travel.

Rusty

danes-on-tour · 01-11-2014, 07:21 AM

Thank you all for your answers. I can see now that the question was much to easy for you, and for that matter we are now going to complicate it

Uncle Joe's family originally came from Germany, and for that reason Uncle Joe still have distant relatives here. After a couple of eggnogs Uncle Joe phones his cousin in Frankfurt to wish him a Merry Christmas, and before the conversation us over, he has promised that his cousin can come to Oregon next summer and tour the US in Uncle Joe's big Class A. Careless move if you ask me. This trip also goes through Nevada, New mexico and Texas.

Uncle Joe is able to add his German relative on his insurance using the cousins German drivers license, so insurance is perceived to be OK in every aspect (just for argument sake).

In Germany, a non commercial Class A drivers license does not exist, and an Oregon drivers license can not be obtained if you are without a permanent address and a social security number. The German drivers license is identical in categories, to the one Uncel Joe has - no special endorsement for non-commercial vehicles weighing in above 26,000 pounds.

Here is the million Dollar question:

Uncle Joe's cousin is perfectly legal to drive the RV in Oregon with his "standard" German drivers license. Will the states of Nevada, New Mexico and Texas have to accept that the German cousin is legal to pass through these states on his current drivers license?

danes-on-tour · 01-11-2014, 07:27 AM

No - he lives permanently in Germany, but hold the same type drivers license as Uncle Joe.

He can not register as resident if he only visits Oregon. He arrives on a tourist Visa and even applying for residency will be highly illegal, and will likely prevent him from ever entering the US again.

palehorse89 · 01-11-2014, 07:31 AM

Foreign Visitors Driving in the U.S. | USA.gov

http://answers.usa.gov/system/templa...20Permit%20IDP

danes-on-tour · 01-11-2014, 07:43 AM

The cousin has required an International Drivers license in Germany, and with that in hand he is perfectly legal to drive in Oregon.

If you read what is on the Gov website, it does say here that as a tourist you must assure that your license is legal in EACH INDIVIDUAL state you visit.

Reciprocity appears to have disappeared into the thin air, and this is really the core of the entire problem.