Look up a New Jersey 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 New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission? No — Jerk Alert filings are community records between drivers. They never reach the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, 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.
New Jersey 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.
- New Jersey publishes #77 as its Dangerous Driver line, answered by the New Jersey State Police. The State Police ask callers to dial it from a hands-free mobile device and to be ready to give a description of the vehicle and occupants, a location and direction, and a licence plate if possible.
Calls are answered in the call room of the State Police Regional Operations and Intelligence Center in West Trenton and are then forwarded to the local police agency with jurisdiction, which in certain circumstances can respond and, if the behaviour is witnessed, issue a summons. Use 911 if there is an immediate danger. If the licence plate of the alleged dangerous driver is gathered, a letter detailing the time and place of the observed offence may be sent to the vehicle owner's home. #77 was created for aggressive driving and rebranded in April 2017 for all forms of dangerous driving, including holding a phone — which makes it one of the few numbers in the country aimed at driving behaviour rather than crashes.
2. Reporting to New Jersey 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 New Jersey
- The non-emergency line of the New Jersey municipal police department, or the New Jersey State Police in municipalities without one 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
By letter — New Jersey publishes no citizen form. You write to the unit below.
Who can file: Medical professionals, police, courts, social workers and family members are the referral sources the Medical Review Unit names when it describes how it establishes cases. It publishes no restriction on who may write, and no citizen form — MR-4 is for physicians, MR-5 for police and courts.
Administrative fitness process
- Agency
- New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission
- Unit
- Medical Review Unit
- Where to send
- New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, P.O. Box 173, Trenton NJ 08666-0173
- Contact
- (609) 292-7500 x5032 · fax (609) 292-7504 · MVCMedicalReview@mvc.nj.gov
What information do I need to report a driver?
- Serious concerns about a driver's skills are reported to the Medical Review Unit by letter — by fax or by post.
- Write a letter detailing the motorist's medical condition and as much of the following as possible: their name and address, driver licence number and date of birth. Include your own full name and address, your relationship to the driver, and your observations about the person's driving safety.
- Anonymous reports cannot be accepted.
What can the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission do after a report?
- The Unit sends the driver a notice that a medical review is required, with forms for their physician to complete and return within 45 days; failure to return them on time results in suspension.
- Depending on the physician's findings the outcome may range from indefinite suspension to a restricted licence to no action.
- Where a seizure disorder, syncope condition or recurrent loss of motor coordination is identified, a 15-day direct order may be issued under NJAC 13:19-5.2 — the 15-day figure is the MVC's own description of its practice; N.J.A.C. 13:19-5.2 itself authorises suspension pending hearing where immediate action is in the interest of public safety, without naming a period.
- About 55% of cases are referred to doctors on the MVC's Medical Advisory Panel.
- A driver scheduled for suspension for being medically unqualified may request a hearing under NJAC 13:19-1.1, specifying the disputed material or legal issues.
Statutory authority: N.J.S.A. 39:3-10.4 (a treating physician must report recurrent seizures, recurrent unconsciousness or loss of motor coordination to the Commission within 24 hours — a duty on physicians, not a citizen provision); N.J.A.C. 13:19-5.1 — such a person must satisfy the Chief Administrator of six months' freedom from those conditions, with or without medication, to obtain, renew or keep a licence; N.J.A.C. 13:19-5.2 (suspension as physically unqualified, on notice and an opportunity to be heard); N.J.A.C. 13:19-1.1 (the administrative-hearing rules).
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.
Do doctors have to report?
Under NJSA 39:3-10.4 physicians must notify the MVC of a patient with recurrent convulsive seizures, recurrent periods of unconsciousness or impairment, or loss of motor coordination from conditions such as epilepsy that persist despite treatment.
Jerk Alert