The great state of Arizona has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, the perfect place for long, leisurely drives. If you can cope with the heat and the stretches of time away from anything resembling civilization, you’ll find dreamy vistas of red rock formations and colorful desert flora. You simply can’t beat an Arizona sunset, even when seen speeding through the open plains down a highway. Take my word for it: Arizona is a motorist’s dream.
Arizona tends to rank in the middle-high range for car accidents nationwide. Crashes due to careless driving are very low in the state, so it looks like all the gorgeous scenery doesn’t have too many citizens turning their heads. Having said that, crashes due to alcohol are pretty high compared to the rest of the nation, so be sure to steer clear of the bars around happy hour if you want to go for a drive.
How To Get Your Arizona Driving Record Online
The Arizona Department of Transportation uses AzDot.gov to dole out most of its driving information, so if you want your five-year driving record, this is the place to start.
The website is fairly comprehensive compared to most government sites. If you want to request a form online, it sends you over to ServiceArizona.com, a DMV-approved website that can send you a non-certified driving record online that can provide you with some basic information. Transactions cannot be performed around midnight for site maintenance purposes. Yes, that’s right. Every single night.
So if you really, really need your driving record around midnight for some reason you’re just going to have to suck it up and wait until breakfast.
Arizona requires you to enter your name, date of birth, a couple of social security digits, and your credit card info so it can issue a fee of three dollars for a non-certified record. For a more detailed certified record, you’ll need to work through mail or visit a Motor Vehicle Division building (yes, in Arizona, it’s an MVD, not a DMV). There are also a couple of dozen licensed third-party locations that are authorized to perform these services, but most of them are in the city of Phoenix. So if you’re outside Arizona’s Urban Heart, you might have to take a bit of a drive.
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How To Get Your Arizona Driving Record Through The Mail
You can print out a Motor Vehicle Record Request at this site. It’s a standard government form with all the usual bells and whistles. You need your name, address, social security number, some criteria on your vehicle.
Basically, it needs to know everything except your grandmother’s shoe size. Before you can mail in the form, you’ll need to get it notarized or signed by an MVD agent, so you’ll end up having to haul yourself over to an MVD location anyway.
It can’t hurt to get a head start on the paperwork though, so if you feel like keeping things efficient, print out a copy, fill out the important bits, and head over to the MVD to have it signed and sent. They still charge you about five dollars and there’s always the risk of hidden fees springing up without warning, so bring some cash just in case.
If you can get the signature and want to mail it, send it over to the Motor Vehicle Division’s Mail Drop 504M at PO Box 2100, Phoenix AZ, zip code 85001-2100.
Once again, if you live near Phoenix you can also just drive it over. They’ll send you your info within about two weeks. The website does offer a printable version of your basic non-certified form but the physical, certified copy that gets mailed to you is the most detailed and probably the safest one to keep in your records.
So there you have it. Get your records in order and Arizona is yours to explore. Pack a lunch, fill up your tank, and get on the road.
How To Clear Your Arizona Driving Record
If you have a traffic violation on your Arizona driving record, you may be able to sign up for an Arizona Online Defensive Driving Course. A defensive driving course can likely remove one traffic ticket, which could result in much lower auto insurance premiums.