Cars are both a blessing and a disaster depending on the situation. When they work well they help us to negotiate our daily lives without fuss, enjoying traveling along at speed with other road users. On the other hand, when they are not working properly, they cause stress and anger as we get frustrated about being late or unable to get somewhere.
When other people are in control of vehicles, this can cause us to become equally, if not more, angry. Road rage is an ugly emotion that causes us to feel and react negatively towards another human being. When vehicles block our paths, it can cause annoyance and frustration, making us angry. Bad driving also causes outrage, as the driver’s irresponsible behavior can be extremely dangerous for other drivers and road users.
If you have witnessed dangerous driving, been involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault which has resulted in the other driver driving off or want to make an insurance claim from a driver who disappeared at the scene, you can do so if you have recorded the license plate number. But what do you do with this information, and who should you tell? This guide helps you to work out how you can look up license plate numbers, and informs you what to do with that information.
What you need to look up a license plate number
If you want to look up a license plate number, there are just two things that you need before you start your investigations. These are the number of the license plate and the state in which this was issued. If you only know the license plate number, you might still be able to find out the state – or at least make an educated guess. With that information to hand, you can move on to a process.
The process
One of the best processes to follow when finding a license plate number involves the following steps:
1) Contact the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). This can often be done through the DMV website, but in some states, can be done over the phone. When calling, be prepared with the information you need (license plate number and state details) in case they want to take the details there and then.
2) Prepare a formal request. Many DMV offices will require you to make a formal request so that the relevant administrative procedures and audit trail can be followed. The method for completing this request is likely to be through the website or involve you going into one of the government offices. Check before making your formal request to see if there is a fee involved prior to completing the information.
3) Review the results. The form of the results that you receive could be one of many, including email, a link to another webpage, or – in some cases – you might have to go into a government office to collect the results. Once received, you can make your next decision.
If you are unable to receive any results from the DMV (or would prefer to use another method to find your results), there are other methods available.
Online databases
The internet has opened up a wealth of information that has never been so readily available to us. There are various companies offering access to databases of information that are publicly available, and it is highly likely that these records are a lot easier to attain information for than we might realize.
Records Finder, for example, has one of the largest and comprehensive public records database that is available. With over 2 billion records, there is a great chance that they will have the information you are seeking from a collection of criminal records, civil records and – most importantly – driving records. Utilizing their service will help you to get the information quickly and easily with minimal effort for you.
Search engines
If you are looking for a license plate number online, sometimes typing in the license plate number into a search engine can return the results we are after. Or, if the owner of the car is a notoriously bad driver, other people might even have entered information about them somewhere on the web.
Search engines have become the standard answer to many questions asked in contemporary society. Though successful results are often returned when using search engines, there may be public records which cannot be obtained through this method, and therefore another is more appropriate and effective.
Social media
Social media has become a widely-used forum for people to vent their frustrations or anger. Whether this is to relieve stress after a difficult day in the office or to lament a character in their life for crashing into their car and then driving off, a social media audience can provide a useful outlet for relieving tension. And, if the subject of your outburst is a driver for whom you feel anger, it can make a useful method for tracking down the owner of a vehicle as someone else may have had a similar encounter with them.
Your insurance company
If extensive damage has been made to your vehicle, your motor insurance company should be one of the first people you contact. When you do so, you will need to give various details, including the license plate details for the car that has caused you to contact them. Every insurance company acts differently to others, but they should be able to help locate the vehicle with the details you provide.
