From the days when early automobiles shared the dirt road with horse-drawn carriages to a time when New York residents can renew their registration online, the Department of Motor Vehicles has completely transformed through the decades.

It began as a bureau within another department of the New York state government, set up to license drivers and register vehicles, and in 1959 the DMV was spun off as its own entity. Since then its scope widened along with the growing popularity of motor vehicles, and it now boasts more than 150 offices across the state.

Today the DMV is responsible for educating drivers and issuing licenses; as part of the licensing task, the organization shoulders the additional load of maintaining a database of more than 11 million driver records for New York residents―and post-9/11, the security of all this identification-related data is paramount.

The DMV also oversees licensing and medical certification for commercial drivers, publishes violation codes, certifies driver education courses, and compiles handbooks. It also interfaces with the New York State Organ and Tissue Donor Registry and the New York State Board of Elections to make it easy for drivers to register to donate organs or to vote.

Known foremost for registering and titling cars, trucks, and motorcycles, the DMV also registers boats, ATVs, trailers, and RVs―more than 10 million current registrations are on file. The department works toward consumer safety and fairness by training, licensing, and regulating motor vehicle dealers, auto body shops, transporters, and dismantlers.

The organization also coordinates the required safety and emissions testing for motor vehicles and investigates and prosecutes fraud in these industries in order to protect the consumer. The DMV is involved with impounded vehicles, rebuilt and kit vehicles, custom license plates, and buying and selling vehicles.

The advent of the Internet led the New York DMV to develop a comprehensive Web site that not only contains enough information to practically eliminate the need to speak to a customer service representative, but also allows you to conduct a fair amount of routine business online. In this effort to increase its throughput, the DMV has added untold convenience for its customers as it enters the new millennium.

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