New York license plate reports

Recent reports in New York

Newest first. Hidden and deleted reports are excluded. Get the app to see reports near you as they are filed.

How to report a bad driver in New York

If it is happening now

Call 911. A driver who is an active danger to other people is a police matter, and no app is a substitute for that call. Do not follow the vehicle, and do not try to get closer to read the plate.

After the fact

Your local police department’s non-emergency line takes reports of dangerous driving that has already happened. What each agency will act on varies, and a report generally needs the plate, the location, the time, and what you saw.

The licensing agency in New York

What the report has to contain

• DS-7 is for concerned citizens. Law enforcement use DS-5; physicians use DS-6.
• No notary is required. Part 4 is a self-certification signed under penalty of law: the reporter certifies the information is true and accurate and acknowledges that a false statement may be punishable by law.
• The report cannot be anonymous. Part 1 asks for the reporter's full name, date of birth, mailing address, daytime telephone number and NYS Client ID Number where they have one.
• Part 3 requires firsthand, specific observations — dates, times, locations and the driving behaviour seen. A general complaint is not enough.
• The Department will not act on the request unless all four parts are completed and all required information supplied.
• The form must be signed and the original mailed to the Medical Review Unit, NYS Department of Motor Vehicles, 6 Empire State Plaza, Room 337, Albany NY 12228.
• The form warns plainly that the review may lead to suspension or revocation of the reported driver's licence.
• A DMV representative may contact you about your request.

What happens to your name

A copy of the DS-7 report IS available under the Freedom of Information Law, but DMV does not reveal the identity of the person who reported a driver's medical condition in response to a FOIL request.

What the agency can do

• The Medical Review Unit investigates reports of drivers whose medical condition may interfere with safe operation; board-certified medical consultants help DMV decide.
• Where the report comes from someone who is not a physician, each case is decided separately.
• DMV may schedule a re-examination or an evaluation interview with a licence examiner, who then decides what tests are needed.
• DMV does not act on reports based on age alone.

What this route is, and is not

This is a fitness-to-drive referral, not a bad-driving complaint. It is built around a medical, cognitive or physical condition, and it asks for the driver’s name and date of birth — which a witness holding only a plate number does not have. Reporting a stranger who tailgated you is not what this channel is for.

Reporting it on Jerk Alert

Filing on Jerk Alert takes about ten seconds and does not replace contacting the authorities. Pick the plate and state, choose the location from the list, tap one of 25 categories, and set a severity from 1 to 5. There is nothing to type, so a report is a fact pattern rather than an account.

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. Jerk Alert is a record, not an emergency service, and the Terms prohibit following, approaching, or identifying another driver.

What an Erk Score means

An Erk Score is a plate’s running rating from 0.0 to 5.0, computed from the reports filed against it and weighted by whether the reporter is verified. Endorsements from other drivers are counted on the report itself and do not change the score. Deleted and hidden reports are excluded, so a score only reflects reports currently standing.

A plate with no reports has no score.

Other plates