Look up a South Dakota 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 South Dakota Department of Public Safety? No — Jerk Alert filings are community records between drivers. They never reach the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, 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.
South Dakota 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 South Dakota-specific line is listed here. We publish a patrol code only when a state police or DOT page carries it.
2. Reporting to South Dakota 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 South Dakota
- The non-emergency line of the South Dakota 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: Anyone. The Driver Evaluation Request's relationship boxes are Relative, Friend, Police, Court, Insurance Co., Physician, Department Employee, and Other (explain).
Administrative fitness process
- Agency
- South Dakota Department of Public Safety
- Unit
- Driver Licensing Program
- Form
- Driver Evaluation Request (rev. 11-08-2013)
- Where to send
- Driver Licensing, 118 West Capitol Avenue, Pierre, South Dakota 57501
What information do I need to report a driver?
- The form must be physically signed. Anonymous requests will not be honored.
- A request based on age and/or general health alone will not be honored — the form's own warning, printed in capitals on its face.
- Skip the block headed "this section for use by law enforcement agency or court use only" — it asks whether the request follows a traffic accident or traffic stop and whether a citation was issued. Everything else on the form is yours: the driver's name, licence number, date of birth and address, the relationship row, your own name, address, phone and signature, and the narrative box.
- Describe specific observations, events and incidents that caused you to question the driver's qualifications. The department may require re-evaluation only where there is reason to believe the driver might not be qualified.
- The form is signed under penalty of perjury, which it states carries up to 2 years' imprisonment and a $4,000 fine.
- Mail the completed request to Driver Licensing, 118 West Capitol Avenue, Pierre, South Dakota 57501.
Statutory authority: SDCL § 32-12-46 (good cause, at least five days' written notice, an examination or interview, and the cancel / retain / restrict outcomes — with refusal or neglect to submit itself grounds for cancellation); §§ 32-12-36 and 32-12-37 (licence restrictions).
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