driver’s license background

During pre-employment background checks, driving record searches are a lot less common than criminal history checks and employment verifications. Most employers won’t check your driving history unless they have a good reason to do so, which means you are unlikely to face this kind of 

check in
 an employment setting unless you are seeking a job that involves driving.

If you are seeking a job that involves operating a vehicle, your prospective employer will likely run a driver’s license check. In addition to employers, auto insurance and life insurance providers will often look at your driving history to assess your risk and determine your policy rate. What exactly will they see when they pull your driving record?

At Blinkx, our driving record reports may include the following information:

• Suspensions 
• Violations
• Driving Status 
• Points 
• Fines 
• Violation Codes 
• License Classification 
• Endorsements

A few of these points are self-explanatory. If your license is suspended (or has been suspended in the past), that information will appear on a driver’s license background check. Moving violations, citations, and fines from the past few years will also appear. 

Some of these points are a little less obvious. “Driving Status” refers to the status of your license. We already touched on suspended licenses, but “Suspended” is just one possible status your license could display. Other options include “None” (for people who aren’t licensed), “Expired” (for a license that has passed its expiration date), and “Deceased” (if the owner of the license number submitted is no longer living). The most desirable license status is “Valid,” which indicates there are no limited restrictions on the license.

“License Classification” refers to the type of driver’s license being checked. There are different classes of licenses for driving a car than driving a commercial vehicle, for instance. Depending on the state, there may also be separate license classes for motorcycles, school buses, and watercraft among others. This information can also be conveyed under the “Endorsements” section of a driving record background check. 

Commercial driver’s licenses are segmented based on not just class but also endorsements. Driving a school bus, operating a tank vehicle, and transporting hazardous materials could require a special endorsement on a CDL.

“Points” refer to the points you have accrued on your driver’s license. Not all states 

have
 point 

systems,
 and the ones that do use different systems. As a result, license points can be confusing. The basic idea is you get a certain number of points for every driving violation, and these points take time to naturally fall off your record. If you accumulate a certain number of points within a set period, the state will suspend your license.

Do you want to see what your driving record looks like? Run a self-check on your driver’s license through Blinkx.