Look up a Montana plate
See whether other drivers have filed reports against a plate.
A plate with no reports comes back clean — that is the common result, and it is not an error.
Avoidance & safety rules
- Do not follow or pursue the vehicle, under any circumstances.
- Do not try to read or photograph the plate if doing so means getting closer or driving unsafely.
- Do not engage. No gestures, no eye contact, no reply to an aggressive driver.
- Keep your distance and let them pass. Pull over somewhere public before you make a call, or have a passenger call.
- Note details only if it is safe: make, model and colour, full or partial plate, direction of travel, and the exact location or mile marker.
Does a Jerk Alert report reach the Montana Department of Justice, Motor Vehicle Division? No — Jerk Alert filings are community records between drivers. They never reach the Montana Department of Justice, Motor Vehicle Division, any other government body, or law enforcement, and they do not replace the calls in sections 1 and 2. If you are in danger, call 911. The Terms prohibit following, approaching, or identifying another driver on any Jerk Alert platform.
Montana bad driver reporting & safety guide
1. If it is happening now immediate danger
Emergency hotlines
- 911 — for a driver who is an active danger to other people right now. That is a police matter, and no app is a substitute for the call.
- No Montana-specific line is listed here. We publish a patrol code only when a state police or DOT page carries it.
2. Reporting to Montana law enforcement after the fact
Neither the hotlines above nor anything in this section is the licence-review route in section 3, and nothing filed on Jerk Alert reaches any of them.
Who takes the report in Montana
- The non-emergency line of the Montana city police department or county sheriff’s office with jurisdiction where it happened takes reports of dangerous driving that has already happened.
- Bring: the plate (full or partial) and state, the vehicle’s make, model and colour, the location, the date and time, the direction of travel, and what you saw.
- Expect a record rather than a ticket. An officer who did not witness the driving usually cannot cite for it, and what each agency acts on varies.
3. State DMV & licensing agency review
Public reporting accessYes — citizens can report dangerous drivers
A named form a member of the public can file with the licensing agency.
Who can file: Concerned citizens, including friends and family members — the MVD's own words. Form 32-1800 states that under § 61-5-207, MCA and ARM 23.3.410 “an individual may recommend a driver for re-examination”.
Administrative fitness process
- Agency
- Montana Department of Justice, Motor Vehicle Division
- Unit
- Driver Services
- Form
- Recommendation for Re-Examination (Form 32-1800)
- Where to send
- PO Box 201430, Helena MT 59620-1430
- Contact
- 406-444-3933 · fax 406-444-1631 · DriverLicense@mt.gov
What information do I need to report a driver?
- The form states that the person making the recommendation must complete all required portions, in accordance with § 61-5-207, MCA and ARM 23.3.410.
- Recommendations submitted by law enforcement must include a written statement describing the specific reasons for the re-evaluation request (Mont. Admin. R. 23.3.410).
Will the driver find out who reported them?
Montana does not accept anonymous recommendations. Form 32-1800 requires your full name and contact details, and an unsigned or anonymous request is not acted on. Expect the driver to learn who filed: a driver called in for re-examination can ask for a copy of the recommendation, which carries your identity and your statement.
Montana publishes an immunity promise, but it is not addressed to you. Form 20-1900 tells the physician that “a physician reporting in good faith is immune from liability, civil, or criminal penalties per 37-2-311, MCA and 37-2-312, MCA”. Nothing equivalent is printed on Form 32-1800, the form a member of the public files — so a citizen filer is both identifiable (above) and unprotected.
What can the Montana Department of Justice, Motor Vehicle Division do after a report?
- The MVD can require a knowledge and road or skills test where it has received reliable evidence that a driver might no longer be able to drive safely, or where a physical or mental condition is not accounted for by an existing restriction.
- If the MVD takes the medical route, it sends the driver's physician or provider a Driver Medical Evaluation (form 20-1900). That form is written to the provider about their patient — you cannot fill it in — and it needs the driver's own signed release before the provider may answer the MVD's questions.
- The department has SOLE responsibility for the licensing decision and also considers non-medical factors; a provider's opinion is evidence, not a verdict.
- The provider can recommend adaptive equipment — steering knob, pedal extension, manual brake, mechanical turn indicator, hand controls or automatic transmission.
- The provider can recommend restrictions: corrective lenses, daylight hours only, no interstate driving, no inclement weather, oxygen while driving, restricted speeds (45 mph on secondary roads, 55 mph on the interstate), a low-speed vehicle only, a left outside mirror for a hearing-impaired driver, or a named restricted area. The MVD notes it cannot always apply a recommended restriction.
- The provider can ask the MVD to re-test or re-review at 6-month, 1-year or 2-year intervals — road testing, knowledge testing, or a fresh medical evaluation.
Statutory authority: § 61-5-207, MCA and Mont. Admin. R. 23.3.410.
What this route can and cannot do
A fitness-to-drive referral, not a bad-driving complaint: it is built around a medical, cognitive or physical condition and asks for the driver’s name and date of birth, which a plate number does not give you.
Jerk Alert