As you noted when state officials process a driver’s license application, they are required to check the National Driver Register database to determine if the applicant has been identified as a problem driver in another state. If a match is found in NDR, state officials are directed to another state DMV system for details on the traffic conviction or status of the license.

The federal requirement to check applicants against NDR was intended to prevent problem drivers from shopping around for a license meaning a person would go to a different state to get a new driver’s license when their current licenses are suspended or revoked. Keeping problem drivers off the road is critical to the NHTSA's (the administrator of the NDR) goal of reducing highway fatalities and injuries. For example, of the 43,000 deaths annually on U.S. roads, 17,000 are caused by alcohol-related incidents according to the NHTSA and they wish to help keep those problem drivers off the road by use of the NDR.

There are other users of NDR data besides the licensing agency, usually the Department of Motor Vehicles, of a state. These other users include Government agencies and private companies. For example, the Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Railroad Administration, and U.S. Coast Guard use NDR information to determine whether individuals are fit to occupy safety-sensitive positions, such as flying passenger aircraft or operating passenger trains or ships.

Private companies in the transportation industry, such as those operating commercial motor vehicles carrying hazardous material, also request information from NDR on job applicants. In 2006, about 800,000 inquires were made by Government agencies and private companies through the NDR records.

According to NDR, Title 49, after becoming an NDR participating state, the chief driver’s licensing official of that state is responsible for submitting an individual’s profile for entry into the NDR database no more than 31 days after the state DMV receives the driver’s record of conviction. When traffic convictions expire, the problem driver’s records are removed from NDR through interfaces with state DMV systems. So if your license is under suspension when that is over the suspension should be taken off of the NDR.

The NDR system design has stayed intact since its initial installation in the early 1980s but in 2006 the NHTSA began to modernize the NDR by converting files to a database and replacing programs with a modern-day programming. The NHTSA is continuing to work with state DMVs to identify upgrade needs for modernization evaluation of the National Driver Registry.

You can read through National Driver Register, Title 49 (of the United States Code, Chapter 303) to find out more about who can access the database. Basically if you are seeking employment as a driver of a motor vehicle you are usually asked by the employer to give them access to check and see if you are listed on the NDR. Other government agencies and private companies mentioned earlier are also able to check the NDR.

States and employers both try to work together to keep problem drivers off of the roadways and from obtaining a driver's license if their current license is suspended, revoked, cancelled, etc. You can contact the NHTSA for more information on the NDR as well since they oversee this national database.

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