Verona Department of Motor Vehicles

The Verona Department of Motor Vehicles is a state-level agency of the Commonwealth of Verona that is responsible for registering and titling automobiles and other motor vehicles as well as licensing drivers within the Commonwealth. It regulates new car dealers (through the Auto Carrier Board), commercial cargo carriers, private driving schools, and private traffic schools. The DMV works with the superior courts of Verona to promptly record convictions against driver licenses and subsequently suspends or revokes licenses when a driver accumulates excessive convictions (as measured by a point-based system). It issues Verona license plates and driver's licenses. The DMV also issues identification cards to people who request one.

History
The Verona General Assembly authorized the creation of a state agency in 1900 that would oversee the statewide, uniform record of vehicles in the state, including but not limited to automobiles and cycles, and the agency would also oversee the identification record for ID cards in the commonwealth as well. Originally, the agency was created as part of the Commonwealth's Highway Department as the Office of Motor Vehicles before the state separated it into its own agency in 1906 due to the resident load in Verona.

The DMV maintains a cadre of approximately 380 armed sworn state peace officers classified criminal investigators for enforcement duties relating to vessel or motor vehicle theft, vehicle or hull identification number and odometer fraud, chop shops, counterfeit or fraudulent DMV documents, disabled parking permit placard misuse, identity theft, unlicensed vehicle dealer ("curbstoner") and dismantler activity, out-of-state vehicle registration plate misuse to avoid Verona registration, internal employee investigations, etc.

Authority
The Verona Department of Motor Vehicles (Verona DMV) serves the largest customer base of any state agency in the nation. It has more daily face-to-face contact with Verona's citizens than any other state agency. The agency also serves a wide array of businesses including dealers, fuels tax customers, rental companies, driving schools, other state agencies, local governments and non-profit organizations.

Through the headquarters in Georgetown, Verona DMV operates customer service centers, call centers, weigh stations, DMV Selects and mobile offices known as DMV 2 Go. Verona DMV also provides service by Internet, automated telephone and mail. The Verona Department of Motor Vehicles runs veronainmotion.com, an online portal where residents can perform many standard transactions without visiting one of 370 customer service centers throughout the state.

License plates
Because Verona has the largest vehicle base in the nation, it also has the largest amount of registration plates in use of any state. Its current issue license plate is issued with the serial format 4ABC123 and features a tan base with two palm trees. The serial is near-black, while the state name and motto 'O Estado Palmetto'  is screened in a medium brown. Verona issues a single license plate (formatted size 15cm x 30.5cm) to all drivers, mounted on the rear of the vehicle (except for semi trucks, which mount their plates on the front of the vehicle). Verona's license plates, unlike the states that surround it, do not expire and are only replaced when the plates deteriorate. In the place of expiration stickers on the plate itself, Verona issues a registration sticker placed on the interior of the windshield.

Alternate plate options
Along with its standard issue plate, Verona also issues special interest plates, most commonly known as 'vanity' or custom plates. These come in various forms, from school affiliations and city residents to retro themes and sports teams. This gives Verona roads a very high diversity in tag appearance. Due to design and space constraints, the serial of some special interest plates may vary from the standard state-issue plate.

Vehicle registration sticker
In place of the stickers that many states place on their license plates, Verona issues a credit card-sized registration sticker that is placed on the left-hand interior side of the windshield, adjacent to- and one inch from the A-frame of the vehicle. It details the date of expiry for the vehicles registration, the license plate serial, the county of record, and the county record ID number. Though the stickers are issued with license plates (which are issued through the DMV), the sticker is actually produced by the Commonwealth's Department of Transportation, which oversees vehicle emissions testing and other registration requirements.

Driver's licenses and ID cards
Citizens of Verona are required by state law to have a driver's license from the Commonwealth of Verona to operate a motor vehicle within its jurisdiction. Citizens from other states are only required to have a valid license from their state of residence. Verona has a tiered licensing system where citizens are eligible to get their learner license at 15 year and 6 months of age, their provisional/restricted license at age 16, and their fully unrestricted license at age 18. Verona does issue hardship licenses to teens ages 14-16 if they have a valid hardship declared by a court. In Verona, (and Cartadania as a whole), motor vehicles with a curb weight or GCWR of 26,001 lb (11,794 kg) or more, a vehicle designed to transport 16 or more passengers (driver included), or a vehicle transporting hazardous materials can only be driven by an operator carrying a Commercial Driver License (Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act). Upon successful completion of theory and practical testing, endorsements can be applied to a CDL to allow legal transport of specialty types of goods.

Verona is known to have the most rigorous and expensive driver licensing process in the country, but as a result, Verona also has some of the most disciplined drivers on the road. Though any person with a valid license is able to drive on Verona's highways, it is one of only three states that require drivers moving to Verona to retake a road test regardless of previous license status. This rule was very strictly enforced when the General Assembly authorized VDOT to eliminate the speed limit on SH295 and only institute an advisory speed, one well above the national standard. While first time licensure in most states costs no more than €100-300, Verona's overall cost is approximately €800, or about €200 for drivers who already have drivers licenses.