By Doug Nick / ADOT Communications

We shared the news today about a state law taking effect Jan. 1 that aims to ease the burden faced by survivors of a military member who has made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation.

The Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division will implement this law by waiving the registration fee and Vehicle License Tax for one vehicle – trailers included – for a qualified surviving spouse or dependent.

The benefit can be renewed annually and applies to survivors of those who bravely served in any branch of the U.S. military, including the National Guard, Coast Guard and Reserves.

Everyone at ADOT is proud to be a part of this effort to honor these heroes and their families.

By Doug Nick / ADOT Communications

Everyone agrees that cancer deserves a knockout punch. And ADOT’s Motor Vehicle Division is proud to offer Arizonans a way to help in the fight.

Since 2006, MVD has offered the Pink Ribbon breast cancer awareness specialty license plate. As Governor Doug Ducey reported this week, nearly 110,000 have been sold to date, raising $2 million.

Those millions have gone to the Arizona Department of Health Services' Well Woman HealthCheck Program, which helps pay for screening and treatment of breast and cervical cancer for uninsured Arizonans.

It’s just one of many worthy causes funded by specialty plates offered by MVD and fueled by your generosity.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and it’s also a great time for all of us at ADOT to say thank you for making this program a success.

By Doug Nick / ADOT Communications

We all remember that red-letter day when we walked into the Motor Vehicle office and proudly showed that we were ready to get our driver license because, by golly, we had passed both drivers’ education and a road test!

Fun times for sure.

Now to be honest, until recently there was a chance that ADOT’s Motor Vehicle Division might put the, ahem, brakes on your celebration, if only for a few minutes.

That’s because if you got drivers ed at a private driving school (which these days means most people), MVD might randomly select you for another road test just to make sure you were well-taught.

But it didn’t seem sporting to make sure the school is doing things the right way by putting you through another road test. So, as we announced today, MVD has stopped doing that because there are other ways to make sure the schools are up to snuff. We’d rather have you spend less time in line and get you safely on the road.

Just one more way MVD is ahead of the curve.

By Doug Nick / ADOT Communications

Nobody likes standing in line. That's why ADOT's Motor Vehicle Division works very hard to get you out of line and safely on the road.

That means we’re even interested in keeping you out of somebody else’s line – in this case, the Social Security Administration's.

We’re not being critical of those folks; we’re just saying there is a new way that you can do business with them online.

Arizona is now one of only 15 states offering residents a secure online way for to connect to the Social Security Administration website at ssa.gov/ssnumber to apply for a replacement Social Security card.

We’ve partnered with the nonprofit American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators to offer the Driver License Data Verification service. This system verifies things such as name, address, birth date, license expiration date, etc., then confirms their validity.

The secure data-verification process also streamlines the current process used by banks, retailers and government agencies for verifying a person’s identity. When someone applies for a bank loan or makes a major purchase, this electronic system eliminates paperwork that may takes days to process by moving that secure process online.

Online. Sounds a lot better than in line. That’s because it is.

Just another way MVD is ahead of the curve.

By Doug Nick / ADOT Communications

You’d probably never guess that ADOT’s Motor Vehicle Division helps the homeless get badly needed services. But it’s part of what we do to help all of our customers.

It’s very difficult for many homeless to get to an MVD office, so recently the MVD brought the office to them.

MVD employees spent the day at the downtown Phoenix Human Services campus working with the good folks at Valley of the Sun United Way on “Project Connect,” a program that helps the homeless access services – in this case, valid Arizona state ID cards.

These cards are important. Without valid ID, people can’t get things like AHCCCS health coverage, mental health assessments or Social Security benefits, apply for food stamps or housing programs and receive many other vital services. Project Connect fixes that problem.

MVD’s mission is to get Arizonans out of line and safely on the road. And by assisting with Project Connect, it's helping homeless individuals find the road to recovery and a place of their own.

By Ralene Whitmer / ADOT Motor Vehicle Division

So, that time has come: Your current vehicle is no longer serving your needs, and you want to buy a quality used vehicle. This could be exciting or a major headache. To help avoid the headache, we recommend doing some research before you hand over your hard-earned cash.

Vehicles can have, shall we say, a colorful history. Things such as floods (like the recent floods in Louisiana), wrecks, being stolen, swapped identification numbers, odometer tampering, fraudulent or missing titles and liens can all cause those headaches we’ve mentioned. But you can avoid these headaches by taking some time and researching the vehicle’s history.

Yes, we’ve mentioned research twice now, but don’t be afraid because it may save you money … sometimes a lot of money. Here are some tools to help:

• The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) is a national vehicle database established to help protect consumers from vehicle related fraud. You can obtain information on the vehicle’s title, history and condition by obtaining a vehicle history report from an NMVTIS-approved provider.​

• An Arizona Lien Motor Vehicle Inquiry is available to check for liens and unrestricted financial obligations on an Arizona titled vehicle.​

• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a website that will provide information on vehicle safety ratings and vehicle recalls.

ADOT also has a handy car buying checklist you may use as a guide when you find that perfect new-to-you vehicle.

By Doug Nick / ADOT Communications

Going to the Motor Vehicle Division to take care of paperwork is usually not high someone’s list of things to do. Those of us who work at ADOT know this too, and we’re doing a lot to get you out of line and safely on the road.

What better way to do that than to let people know the chances are good that you don’t need to get in that line in the first place? As we shared this week, 51 percent of the transactions done in our offices can just as easily be done online.

Renewing your registration, obtaining a refund, registering to vote, getting your vehicle record, changing your address information – all of these and a lot more can be done online. Using ServiceArizona.com means you can take care of a lot of business at your convenience.

Arizona’s drivers are our customers, and we are always looking at ways to serve you better.

By John Halikowski / ADOT Director

What does Arizona Cardinals left tackle and captain Jared Veldheer have in common with the Arizona Department of Transportation? They both believe seat belts save lives.

In a new public service campaign launched by ADOT – Seat belts. For Life. – Jared Veldheer touts the need for proper equipment to play football. “I wouldn’t play football without wearing a helmet and shoulder pads, and I won’t drive my truck without wearing a seat belt. Being safe is being smart.” He ought to know as it is his job to protect the Arizona Cardinal's quarterback for any blind side hits. A seat belt serves the same purpose of protecting occupants in a vehicle.

On Arizona roadways in 2015, there were 258 unrestrained occupant fatalities, which account for 29 percent of the people killed in traffic crashes that year. In the past five years in our state, there have been 1,205 unrestrained occupant fatalities. Lack of seat belt use is annually one of the leading factors in traffic deaths.

Buckling a seat belt is the easiest thing to do when you get in a car. Its sole purpose is to help you survive a crash. Let the seat belt do its job – buckle up.

I want to thank Jared Veldheer for partnering with ADOT on this important safety campaign. You can view the two public service announcements –“Strong Man” and “Safety Gear” – at azdot.gov and on our social media channels – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

And remember: Buckle up everyone, for every trip.

This post originally appeared on ADOT Director John Halikowski's
LinkedIn page. He has led the agency since 2009.

By Steve Elliott / ADOT Communications

Last week we shared how the ADOT Motor Vehicle Division office in west Phoenix has been turned into a laboratory of sorts to test ways of reducing customer wait times. We'll be sharing many stories from that laboratory in the coming months.

But this important effort on 51st Avenue is just one part of ADOT's commitment to continuous improvement.

For example, we shared today how MVD took a six-hour application process for owners of taxi, livery vehicle and limousine companies and streamlined it to just 10 minutes. That's right: 10 minutes.

Tom Opalka, MVD's commercial driver license, medical review and vehicle for hire program manager, explains it this way:

“We took an outdated, inefficient application process and applied modern technology and methods to it.”

This is the essence of continuous improvement, and it reflects a commitment involving this entire agency, including those of us in ADOT Communications. A fun way to think about this effort, and an example we're using at ADOT, is the video above showing how auto racing pit stops have advanced from 1950 to today. It's two minutes long, but the ending and lesson are well worth the wait.

When we announced last week that the State Transportation Board has approved ADOT's five-year construction program for state highways, we shared two key ways our agency will measure how it's answering Governor Ducey's call for state government to continuously improve its value to Arizonans:

• Bridges: ADOT strives to keep the percentage of highway bridges rated in good or fair condition at 95 percent or more.
• Pavement: ADOT aims to increase interstate highway rated in good condition from 73 percent to 80 percent as measured by smoothness.

These are among the key performance indicators ADOT will use to measure its continuous improvement as an agency. We will tell these stories as well. But there are many, many other indicators – and ways we are working to improve results – across ADOT's various functions.

This is an exciting way of looking at how we do business at ADOT. We look forward to sharing this story with you.