Activist wants the California DMV to join a program that keeps tabs on cars' IDs
July 16, 2007
Tony Bizjak
The Sacramento Bee
Rosemary Shahan, prim in a pink sweater and matching pink blazer, sits at the dining room table of her neat Davis condominium, documents spread end to end.
Here's one that gets her going: Latest statistics from the California Highway Patrol that show some 250,000 vehicles were stolen in the state last year.
California is the undisputed national leader in car theft and fraud.
A letter to California officials from the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice grabs Shahan's interest. It says California is one of 20 states that do not participate in the national vehicle information-sharing program designed to reduce theft and fraud. The feds ask what they can do to get California's Department of Motor Vehicles to sign up.
That upsets Shahan.
A familiar face at the state Capitol, Shahan is a soft-spoken but passionate former English teacher who now heads Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, which she runs out of her Davis condo.
If California would just join the computerized national system that tracks vehicle titles, the state could put the squeeze on a teeming underworld of chop shops, car cloning and title washing, she argues.
It would mean fewer thefts, and fewer unsafe cars sold to unsuspecting buyers.
...The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System is "a good concept and has merit," DMV spokesman Mike Marando said. "We acknowledge the benefits of NMVTIS as a tool for identifying stolen vehicles and protecting consumers."
But the DMV recently launched a major effort to modernize its own computer systems for driver's licenses and vehicle registrations, Marando said. Not until that's done, possibly in 2010, can the DMV seriously consider joining the national information system.
...Jason King, spokesman for the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators -- mainly state DMVs -- said states with ports, like California, tend to have higher theft rates.
Cars can be stolen and quickly shipped out of the country, he said.
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