Among the things we can lose it is our personal documents which can cause the most problems. Cash can be replaced; family photographs are usually copied and secure, but our driver’s license, well, losing that is a real problem.

If you are an Arizona driver there is a quick and easy remedy that can you back on the safe side and make certain nobody else is using your license for nefarious purposes. If you suspect your license has been stolen, or perhaps just lost, your first step should be contacting the Arizona Department of Transportation. You can visit their web site or contact them by phone, or even drive down to the local offices. (Remember, this only works if your license is valid. Don’t drive on a revoked or suspended license.)

Once you contact ADOT they can walk you through the steps needed to get your license back and get you back on the road safely.

You may replace a lost or stolen driver license or identification card online, by phone, or at any MVD or authorized Third Party office. The fee for a duplicate license is $12.00. A duplicate ordered online can be sent by express delivery for an additional fee.

If you visit an office you must have two forms of identification, one of which contains your photo (or three forms of identification, if no photo). Management approval may be required. If your license has been lost or stolen and you have reason to believe someone else is using it, the incident should be reported to your local police department as an identity theft.

See Identification Requirements for a listing of acceptable proof of identification. One proof must be listed under Primary.

To learn more about traffic and driving safety, visit our web site.

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The Arizona Department of Motor Vehicles maintain a complete data base of vehicle registration information which is updated daily. Anything you do with your vehicle. If you receive a vehicle citation, speeding ticket or are involved in a vehicle accident, this information is stored as a part of your driving record.

So too are the records of your vehicle insurance. If you do not keep your vehicle insurance updated the insurance company will automatically notify the Arizona DMV (they are required by law to do this) and your vehicle registration and license plates will be automatically suspended.

This process is an automatic response kicked off when notification is received about the status of your insurance. If you want to keep driving legally in Arizona, make certain you know the status of your vehicle insurance and don’t drive a vehicle with suspended registration and license plates!

I received a notice that my plates and registration were suspended…why?

A suspension could have been generated for one of several reasons: 1) MVD has not received proof of Arizona insurance, 2) There was a lapse in insurance coverage, 3) There was an accident case opened, 4) A newly registered vehicle may not have been on system when insurance information was received, 5) There was a VIN (vehicle identification number) error, either entered into the system incorrectly or provided incorrectly by the insurance company.

So, what do you do if your plate and registration are suspended? You must file fees and future proof of financial responsibility with the Arizona Motor Vehicle Services (MVA). It is best to get your insurance reinstated as soon as you can, because police officers will ask for proof of insurance if they pull you over and driving without insurance could cost you up to $500 in fines. To clear a registration suspension, you must be able to provide proof that you had insurance at the time you were pulled over. If you can’t provide proof, then you will have to pay a $50 reinstatement fee after you eventually provide proof. But likely it doesn’t take long to be reinstated. You should only have to wait up to 24 hours for your plate and registration to be reinstated.

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You need to meet the mandatory state requirements for car insurance.

Arizona, like all states has set a minimum requirement for car insurance. This requirement is intended to protect you and everyone else you may encounter from paying out of pocket in the event of a vehicle collision. There are an abundance of costs to consider including property damage costs for repair to vehicles or structures you might collide with and medical costs in the event someone is injured as a result of a vehicle collision.

Fortunately, the Arizona Department of Motor Vehicles makes their requirements very clear and posts them at their web site:

Arizona requires that every motor vehicle operated on our roadways be covered by one of the statutory forms of financial responsibility, more commonly called liability insurance, through a company that is authorized to do business in Arizona. This includes golf carts, motorcycles and mopeds.

Minimum levels of financial responsibility are:

$15,000 bodily injury liability for one person and $30,000 for two or more persons
$10,000 property damage liability

Failure to maintain proper insurance could lead to the suspension of your vehicle registration and/or driver license. To reinstate these privileges, fees and future proof of financial responsibility must be filed with MVD. The future proof requirement is most commonly an SR22 form from an insurance company. This can be expensive to the vehicle owner, especially since the law requires the owner to carry the SR22 for three years from the date of suspension.

Not only must you notify them of your name change, you must also bring the proper proof of identification including all the proper documentation which goes along with it.

It is important the department of motor vehicles has your proper name and address in the event they need to make contact with you for something. Plus, in many cases the postal service will not forward mail from the department of motor vehicle so if you do not let them know what your correct address is, you simply will not get the license and registration renewal information from them; or the notice that your driving privileges have been suspended.

You are required by law to notify MVD of a name or address change within 10 days. We are required to verify your Social Security Number before your record can be updated, therefore you must first contact the Social Security Administration online or at 800-772-1213 for information on how to change your name on their records. After you have changed your name with SSA, wait two days for their computer system to be updated. You should then visit an MVD office to present identification in both your new and previous names. This must be an original or certified copy (must be certified by the issuing agency) of one of the following: Marriage Certificate/License, Divorce Decree, Certificate of Citizenship/Naturalization or a court order.

• For information on How to Change Your California Address, click:
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If your driving privileges have been revoked or restricted as a result of a drug or alcohol related violation you will be required to install and maintain an ignition interlock device. This device prevents a car from starting until a self-administered breathalyzer test has been cleared. Drivers with these devices installed are required to submit to the breathalyzer test every time they want to start their car and go any where.

The interlock requirement is effective immediately. Failure to have the device installed and to provide verification to MVD within 30 days, may result in immediate suspension of your Arizona driving privilege and possible extension of the original interlock requirement.

Upon conviction of driving without an interlock device as required by ARS 28-1464 your requirement to maintain an interlock will be extended for one additional year after your original requirement would have ended.

The interlock installer is required to electronically send periodic reports of your interlock usage to MVD. If those reports indicate a failure to comply with interlock requirements, tampering, circumvention, or certain other violations, you will receive notification from MVD extending your original interlock requirement for an additional 6 to 12 months.

For someone unfamiliar with the changing driving conditions in Arizona the fix might seem as simple as turning on your headlights, but the reality is headlights will not cut through the swirling dust and high winds of a haboob (the miles wide dust storms which the state gets every year) or the heavy smoke of a wildfire. And there is no remedy for sun glare.

To counter the myths and help raise awareness of these dangers the Arizona Department of Transportation is constantly reminding drivers of what they should be wary of and how best to keep themselves and everyone they share the road with, safe from harm.

Haboobs (giant dust storms) occur in dry desert climates such as the Sahara and desert areas of Arizona. While they can be awesome when viewed from afar, they can make driving quite hazardous. These giant dust storms often precede a thunderstorm. An Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) website provides guidance on what to do when encountering a storm while driving :

Avoid driving into or through a dust storm.
Do not wait until poor visibility makes it difficult to safely pull off the roadway – do it as soon as possible. Completely exit the highway if you can.
If you encounter a dust storm, check traffic immediately around your vehicle (front, back and to the side) and begin slowing down.
Do not stop in a travel lane or in the emergency lane; look for a safe place to pull completely off the paved portion of the roadway.
Stop the vehicle in a position ensuring it is a safe distance from the main roadway and away from where other vehicles may travel.
Turn off all vehicle lights, including your emergency flashers.
Set your emergency brake and take your foot off the brake.
Stay in the vehicle with your seatbelts buckled and wait for the storm to pass.
Drivers of high-profile vehicles should be especially aware of changing weather conditions and travel at reduced speeds.
A driver’s alertness and safe driving ability is still the number one factor to prevent crashes.

Police in many states have begun asking legislators to empower them to test drivers who they believe may be under the influence of marijuana. They say that although marijuana usage has become more common it is no less dangerous then ever before. In fact, because the potency of some marijuana plants is much more powerful than ever before, it is even more dangerous today than it was a decade ago.

So far, there are no adequately effective on-the-spot tests which police can use, such as a breathalyzer for alcohol, which can determine how ‘high’ someone is, but they don’t need it to bust a driver they seeing driving poorly, regardless of why they might be doing it.

Eric Caviness, 32, failed to use a turn signal and made several wide turns when he was pulled over at about 2:45 p.m. Friday near Extension Road and Southern Avenue in Mesa, police said.

Caviness told police he smoked marijuana about an hour earlier in Tempe and gave officers a brown cigarette that later tested positive for the drug, according to police.

Police said Caviness’ license was suspended and he was arrested on suspicion of aggravated DUI.

Once collected, the haiku will be posted on signs and used as part of a ADOT public service program.

In Arizona these dust storms, or haboobs, happen mostly during the dry summer months. They sometimes cover hundreds of miles, blanketing everything in a thick coat of sand and completely blocking out the sun for hours. Drivers will find themselves quickly overtaken by the fast moving storms, unable to see or navigate and without any sense of direction. These storms also block telecommunications networks, so drivers who are relying on a GPS device will soon discover they have no connection at all.

This is not the first time a department of transportation has used poetry to get a message across to drivers. The state of New York and New York City in particular have each effectively used poetry to remind drivers about various traffic and driving safety concerns.

The haiku challenge — part of ADOT’s “Pull Aside Stay Alive” campaign on safe driving in monsoon season, which officially starts today — represents a departure from the dry public-service ads of the past.

“We’ve never done anything like this before, so we weren’t sure what to expect, and this is something different from the government,” said Timothy Tait, ADOT’s assistant communication director and self-proclaimed “Twittermaster.” His team came up with the idea.

“It’s taking a humorous, lighthearted approach for a serious topic,” Tait said.

This is a difficult predicament for state authorities who could see a mass increase in the number of illegal immigrants applying for state issued driving licenses. It is estimated there are approximately 50,000 such persons currently living in the state of Arizona. It is also a difficult situation for police who might find themselves having to handle drivers who are unable to speak or read English, or might fear prosecution and therefore are more likely to flee from police.

So far all of this is simply conjecture as states begin to receive the new federal regulations as outlined i the executive order. Until the dust settles it remains unclear how this issue will impact the issuance of state driving licenses, but it seems a guarantee they will be effected somehow.

Tim Tait, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said Wednesday his agency is studying last week’s directive that allows many who were brought to the country as children to seek to defer being prosecuted for being in this country illegally and to avoid being deported.

Under a 1996 Arizona law, anyone seeking a driver’s license must prove both identity and legal presence in this country. The same requirement exists for non-operator identification cards issued by ADOT.

Technically speaking, Friday’s move does not grant legal status anyone who entered the country illegally or overstayed a visa. But the order does say those who qualify will be issued permits by the federal government entitling them to work in this country legally.

Distracted driving is now the single most likely cause of a traffic fatality in the United States. This puts distracted driving ahead of driving while intoxicated when it comes to cause of death. This has forced many states to take a good hard look at the most common cause of distracted driving: those ubiquitous digital gadgets everyone is so fond of.

But those are hardly the only reasons why people get distracted behind the wheel. Distractions range from digital devices to changing channels on the radio to talking with passengers. They also include allowing pets to wander around the cabin of the vehicle freely. Several states have already passed laws limiting the ability of drivers to allow their pets to wander free, although some similar efforts have failed to garner enough votes after pet advocacy groups rise up and complain.

Arizona has circumvented this problem by creating a blanket law to prevent drivers from being distracted by anything, pets include. And so far, it has been working as planned.

Research shows a 10-pound dog, propelled forward by a collision, can hit you with the force of 500 pounds.

Impact will most certainly kill the dog and could severely injure or kill you.

Arizona is one of three states with a blanket distracted driving law.

If an officer saw you reaching in the back seat to interact with Fido, you could be stopped and cited.

It’s difficult to enforce, but certainly possible.

Pet experts recommend using a harness to secure your pet to a seatbelt while in the vehicle, preferably in the rear seat.

An airbag can kill a dog.

Big dogs riding in an SUV should be confined to the rear cargo area, and a divide should be used to keep them from moving forward in the cabin.

Arizona deputies reported they could smell alcohol emanating from his vehicle as they approached and that Jarc admitted to them he had been drinking.

Arizona is one of a hand full of states which provide stiffer penalties for those charged with driving under the influence of alcohol depending on how high their blood concentrations are. These penalties range from increased fines to the increased possibility the driver will be facing jail time following a conviction.

Despite a recent emphasis on the dangers of distracted driving, driving under the influence of alcohol remains a danger to drivers in all states and greatly increases the likelihood that an accident will result in a fatality.

Scott Jarc, 52, was booked into a county jail Monday on several DUI charges.

According to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, deputies stopped Jarc after seeing him speeding on County Route 1 at about 4:20 a.m.

Deputies said they smelled alcohol when they contacted Jarc and he admitted to drinking earlier.

Jarc was taken into custody and his blood-alcohol concentration was found to be .328 percent.

Jarc faces DUI counts that include extreme DUI and super extreme DUI with a blood-alcohol level above .20 percent.

For the uninitiated dust storms may seem like a fairy tale story they tell their children; something that only happens in the deserts of the Middle East and only impacts people riding on camels. But in reality dust storms happen here in the United States every year in places like Phoenix, a major metropolitan area.

This lack of knowledge on the part of drivers and the increased power and regularity of these storms has prompted the Arizona Department of Transportation to launch a statewide campaign aimed at helping drivers understand just how big of a risk these storms pose to their safety.

the idea is to use local media and police to help educate drivers and remind them to take warnings about oncoming storms seriously. They also provide information to drivers so they know how to react if they do eventually get caught in a dust storm.

Dust storms can be deadly for drivers who get caught in the middle of their fury. That is why the Arizona Department of Transportation is trying to get out in front of the trouble. Today the agency kicks off a public awareness campaign urging motorists to “Pull Aside – Stay Alive.”

This is a collaborative effort between ADOT, the National Weather Service, the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. A public service announcement shows how quickly a dust storm can envelope the roadway.

The driver, 19-year-old Catalina Clouser, was released from jail  Sunday morning after being charged with child abuse and aggravated DUI. She admitted to police she had been upset that her boyfriend had been arrested the night before (also on DUI charges) and had been smoking marijuana with her friends.

The baby has since been placed in the care of Child Protective Services and Clouser will likely have to complete drug and alcohol treatment and possibly serve jail time before being reunited with her child. Defensive driving or not, if your child is sitting on the roof of your car, somebody is going to get hurt.

Phoenix police Officer James Holmes said officers responded to a call of a baby strapped into a car seat lying in the middle of the road at 45th Avenue and Cholla Street around 1 a.m Saturday.

“The woman who found him and I were just crying our eyes out,” said a Leilani Gerlach who lives on the corner where the baby was found. “How can someone forget their baby?

The infant was taken to a local hospital to be checked over and is OK, Holmes said.

As police investigated at the scene, two witnesses, identified as friends of the suspect and her boyfriend, walked up and began to talk with officers.

The friends told officers the baby belonged to Clouser.

Holmes said while officers were talking to the friends, Clouser drove back to the scene.

Recently, in and amongst the debates surrounding the use of handheld devices by drivers, others have begun focusing their attention on drivers who allow their pets, specifically dogs or lap dogs, to wander loose in the vehicle while in motion.

Opponents of this type of behavior say this is a serious danger facing motorists today because the animals are unpredictable and could easily result in the driver being distracted and causing a crash. With all the attention on distracted driving caused by handheld devices, this issue has quickly gathered steam.

Already the issue is being debated in several state legislatures including Arizona. Some states already provide for a stiff fine, sometimes as much as $250, for drivers who allow their animals to roam free. Arizona legislators have not yet said what sort of punishment they would provide for drivers who flaunt the new law (if the law passes) but they have made it clear that the issue is worth their attention and some sort of new law will likely emerge as a result of their efforts.

Arizona, Connecticut and Maine residents can be penalized under distracted-driving laws if they’re driving with a pet in their lap. In Hawaii, drivers are not allowed to drive with pets in their laps; Rhode Island and Oregon are considering doing the same.

According to a 2011 pet passenger safety survey by AAA and Kurgo pet products, 65 percent of dog owners admitted to engaging in at least one potentially distracting activity while driving with their dog.

In that group, 52 percent said that activity included petting their pet, even when the animal was in the backseat. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, looking away from the road for just two seconds can double a driver’s risk of being in a crash.

Although laws exist to force these drivers to move aside when emergency vehicles are coming through, it is difficult for police to enforce them as the moment quickly passes and emergency personnel don’t have time to record plate numbers.

Arizona emergency workers hope that by publicizing the situation they will increase public awareness of the issue and convince drivers to think twice before continuing on their merry way when emergency vehicles are trying to get by.

“There are several accidents,” said Capt. Rich Bauer with United Phoenix Firefighters. “You always see somebody lock on the brakes and somebody hit them from behind. I’ve seen it several times in my career. There have been a lot of close calls and sometimes we’ve been hit.”

In Denver, where police officers cite about 70 drivers yearly for failure to yield to emergency vehicles, an ambulance company is fitting some emergency vehicles with 200-watt ground-shaking amplifiers. The effort is to shake drivers into moving over and clear a path to the hospital.

In 2010 Arizona police made more than 800 DUI arrests during the same time period.

There were more than 1,300 Arizona law enforcement officers engaged in actively searching for drunk drivers during the three day holiday weekend, and although the numbers have been trending downward it seems likely the state will continue to press the issue, especially during holidays when Americans might be more prone to down a few brews and then hit the road.

Alberto Gutier, director of the state’s DUI Task Force under the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, said nearly 1,300 officers in Arizona worked DUI checkpoints over the weekend to nab revelers who were driving while intoxicated.

Gutier said he expected police to have arrested up to 550 drivers by the end of Memorial Day. That number continues a three-year downward trend in Memorial Day DUI arrests. In 2011, 614 people were arrested. In 2010, 849 were arrested.

Gutier said a number of forces drive the number of arrests on any given year including the number of police on patrol, the weather and events occurring inside the city that would keep people closer to home.