Your Texas Driver's License Can Be Wrongfully Suspended At Any Time
DPS blames flawed computers but admit you may be arrested and jailed before you prove it !
This headline sounds like a tailor-made conspiracy theory from an anti-government group but
au contraire. This story is true and it happened to my daughter. According to the DPS, it can land innocent law abiding Texans in jail. Conspiracy? I'll report and you can decide.
On Wednesday, March 20, 2013 my wife received a call from our automobile insurance carrier warning us that our daughter's drivers license had been suspended and she was being removed from
our insurance policies. The agent admonished us to prevent her from driving any vehicle they insured.
Our daughter is a mature and responsible 25 year old accomplished artist who lives with us and cares for us because we have chronic health issues.
Our daughter shops for us, she takes care of the house, she cooks for us and she takes us to the Doctor. Now, suddenly, we are told she can't drive and she never received any type of notice from the DPS.
My wife panicked when she was told that Bri could not drive. My response was to recite most of the seven words that can't be said on the radio. I reassured them that I could "fix it".
We found the TXDOT website and soon found our way into the belly of the beast. Once inside, we found a webpage which contained a small green button. We clicked on it and it took us to this page...
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/DriverLicense/driverrecords.htm
After a few minutes of confusion and aborted "click throughs", we arrived at this auspicious page...
https://txapps.texas.gov/tolapp/txldrcdr/TXDPSLicenseeManager
We were close, but no cigar... We found ourselves at a page which read like an interrogation, so we clicked on and arrived here
https://txapps.texas.gov/tolapp/txldrcdr/TXDPSLicenseeManager
Finally, we arrived at a log in page that required the input of a DPS "audit number" which was hidden on my daughter's driver's license in such tiny print that it was impossible for anyone over 50 to see it.
This log in took us to a "secure server" where a $4.50 ransom was demanded for the release of her driving records. The security surrounding her records reminded me of the security at the Emergency Management offices under the DPS headquarters in Austin, where I represented the Dept of Agriculture at disaster preparedness meetings..
The difficulty associated with getting driving records might be compared to what African American democrats encounter when they look for a place to vote in a republican county.
Finally, there it was in all it's official-dumb. NOT ELIGIBLE... See for yourself (continued below)
What's a father to do in this situation? Well, the next step was obvious. Call them and raise all kinds of hell..
My call landed at the desk of a young man who was well schooled in the fine art of obfuscation. I introduced our issue without editorial and handed the phone to my daughter who had years of training from the "master". It was time for her solo. She was cordial but insistent with her demand for immediate remediation. With only a hint of frustration, the young man called for a supervisor. In less time than it took to download the first form, another was miraculously generated with a polar opposite conclusion.
Suddenly, my daughter was "ELIGIBILE". I was awestruck at the efficiency of law enforcement. I immediately signaled my daughter to save both versions as a PDF file before the NOT ELIGIBLE version disappeared from the DPS website.
She captured the offending document with the efficiency of Bill Murray's character in GhostBusters. It made this old man proud. Then, with the demon trapped and captured, it was my turn to exact my pound of flesh. I signaled my daughter to hand the phone back to me and I began to ask some questions that could have channeled Mike Wallace.
I asked, "How often does this happen"? His response was surprisingly non-apoligectic. He said it only happens in one out of 30,000 cases. I "pressed" him further. I said this was unacceptable. This sort of thing can destroy lives because people get arrested and jailed for driving with a suspended license.
He responded in a matter-of-fact tone. He said that police have the discretion to arrest or not arrest citizens who drive with suspended licenses. I continued to press him. I asked how the DPS could allow people to be arrested and jailed in this manner. I insisted they change their policy and stop blindsiding innocent citizens with license suspensions, and the possibility of arrest and incarceration during a traffic stop, simply because of a supposed computer error. I was astonished to learn that the Texas Department of Public Safety has allowed this to continue.
Eventually, the DPS agent promised to suggest a policy that would notify a citizen when the system produced a driver's license suspension. Since he didn't offer to rush into the Director's office with my suggestion, I am writing this account bring it to the public's attention.
In my opinion, this is nothing less than law enforcement abuse. It is a form of state sanctioned police terrorism to live in fear that a DPS computer might wrongfully suspend your license, resulting in the impoundment of your automobile and your arrest and incarceration during a traffic stop.
This must not continue, My daughter was lucky, HOW IS YOUR LUCK?
.
I strongly urge everyone to spend $4.50 to get an up to date driving record or at least place a call to your automobile insurance agent for an updated driving record. It's the best insurance we can have against a growing police state.
My daughter is now "ELIGIBLE" to drive again. Are you eligible to drive? Are you sure?
Click on the form below to expand it to full size. Notice the date on both forms is the same.
Sincerely,
Fred Lundgren
Katy Texas
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