More facts about AAMVA's history...

AAMVA 75 Fun Facts

• Col. E. Austin Baughman, commissioner of Motor Vehicles in Maryland, was elected AAMVA's first president in 1933. This position is currently known as Chair of the Board.
   
• After its founding in 1933, AAMVA operated under Secretariats provided by the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads.
   
• AAMVA's first publication, the AAMVA Bulletin, was first published in July 1936. This monthly newsletter was replaced 60 years later in 1996 with Move magazine and other electronic communication tools, such as the Web site and Yahoo! groups.
   
• In 1938, AAMVA employed Louis R. Morony, former commissioner of Motor Vehicles in Michigan, as a full-time executive director (now known as President & CEO) and opened a headquarters office in Washington, D.C. Funding for this development came from the US. Bureau of Public Roads, the National Conservation Bureau (later known as the Association of Casualty and Surety Companies and now known as the American Insurance Association), and the Automotive Safety Association.
   
• In 1938-39, AAMVA sought improved vehicle headlighting. In cooperation with the automobile industry, it participated in the development and acceptance of the sealed beam headlamp.
  
  
• Milton Dufford is the only AAMVA member to serve as chief administrator for two different jurisdictions:  Georgia and South Carolina.
  
  
• Between 1951 and 1955, AAMVA took active steps to make the standard size license plate a reality. This was a joint endeavor of the Engineering and Registration Committees, in cooperation with the Automobile Manufacturers Association.
  
  
• Patricia B. "Patti" Adduci, New York, was the first female international chair of the AAMVA Board of Directors.
   
• In 1970, incumbent AAMVA President Douglas W. Toms was chosen by President Richard M. Nixon as the federal government's highway safety chief. On the day Toms was sworn-in by then Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe, an executive order was implemented designating the National Highway Safety Bureau as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Simultaneously Toms became NHTSA's first Administrator.
  
  
• At the 41st Annual International Conference, held September 1973 in Miami Beach, Florida, the International Registration Plan (IRP) was formally adopted and implemented.
   
• In 1938, AAMVA sought and obtained a grant from Esso Safety Foundation for the improvement of driver licensing. This grant made possible "Minimum Driver License Examination Standards" and "Standard Examination for Drivers' — the original basic standards for driver licensing work.
   
• Prior to 1990, AAMVA's President & CEO position (formerly known as Executive Director) was always chosen from the membership. In Feb. 1990, the Board ventured outside the membership and hired a certified association professional, John Strandquist, who remained in the postion for nine years.
   

• Due to the development and implementation of the Commercial Driver's License Information System (CDLIS), the AAMVA headquarters staff grew from 15 to 30 in 1986 to 70 by 1991.

• In 1996 AAMVA launched its flagship publication, MOVE.

• In 1992 AAMVA, through its member states, created the first network to track commercial driver histories, and for the first time state motor vehicle agencies had the luxury of verifying a  driver's commercial driving history prior to issuing their CDL. It's known as the Commercial Driver License Information System (CDLIS).

• The first “Salty Dog Breakfast” at an AAMVA function was sponsored by the National Automobile Transporters in 1952 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Autra (American Utility Trailer Rental Association) took it over after a few years. (U-Haul was a member of Autra during those years.)  In 1958, Autra sponsored the breakfast but could not pay for it so U-Haul founder L.S. “Sam” Shoen paid the bill. The next year, AAMVA asked Shoen if U-Haul would sponsor the breakfast every year. Shoen agreed, so the U-Haul sponsorship started in 1959 and has continued year after year.
   
• On April 18, 1980, AAMVA signed a 4-year, $4 million contract (the largest contract in the Association's 47-year history at the time), between AAMVA and the U.S. Department of Transportation for demonstrating the International Registration System (IRIS) in six states (Minnesota, Missouri, Arkansas, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming).
   

• The first birthday celebration of AAMVA, held in Chicago in September 1934 with Colonel Baughman serving as president, was highlighted by a resolution endorsing the uniform vehicle code and urging its adoption.

• One of the biggest issues AAMVA tackled in 1943-44 was the issue of the non-uniformity of the size and gauge of steel license plates. Also during the war, the 55 mph speed limit was enacted not for safety reasons, but for conservation of energy. The 1944-45 annual conferences also focused on the safety aspects of the 55 mph speed limit and discussion on speed in the post-war years began.

• Prince Edward Island began to issue photo licenses on April 1, 1972 becoming the first Canadian province to do so.

• In November 1940 the Highway Traffic Advisory Committee to the War Department was organized to provide advice on highway transport matters and to ensure state compliance in meeting the essential highway needs of the War Department. AAMVA President A.W. Bohlen and L.S. Harris, Executive Director of AAMVA were designated to represent the Association on the Committee. Harris was later designated secretary of the committee with full authority to act in all matters except those creating new policies or procedures.
  
   

• By 1941,  more than 90 percent of our supply of crude rubber was in the hands of enemy forces. AAMVA was tasked with researching the possibilities of increasing our natural and synthetic rubber supply, as well as studying ways to increase life of tires through mechanical, and social changes.

• AAMVA’s amputee driver training program, which began during WWII, resulted not only in complete motor vehicle driver training being taught in the Army and Navy amputee hospitals, but resulted also in the development by the Society of Automotive Engineers (at the request of the Association’s special Amputee Driver Committee) of special equipment.

• At the 1950 annual conference, the Farmers Insurance Safety Foundation presented a $10,000 check to AAMVA. The check represented the first annual contribution by the Foundation for the inauguration of an in-service training course for chief driver’s license examiners at the Northwestern University Traffic Institute (under the auspices of AAMVA), and the training of examiner trainers at regional workshops. In 1954, 13 chief examiners had completed the first four-year program. In 1954, the Foundation re-upped its grant for another 4-year training program,  which began in 1955. 

• The International Registration Plan—a program for inter-jurisdictional travel of commercial vehicles—was formally launched at the 1973 Annual International Conference with nine state signators; four for  participation in 1974; five more to join in with the 1975 model vehicles. By the 1974 AIC, AAMVA also enlisted another state, and a Canadian province (the first), and saw enabling legislation enacted in two other states.

• In late 1959, AAMVA received a grant from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to support a special program to improve the effectiveness of driver licensing and driver improvement procedures in all jurisdictions. By 1963 recognition of the importance of good driver licensing had reached an all-time high in nearly all of the U.S. and Canadian jurisdictions.

• In 2003, AAMVA, along with its various safety partners, launched the nation's first full-scale older driver public relations campaign known as GrandDriver®.