Understanding Your Record

The picture to the left is of an abstract of driving record (ADR) from the Washington State Department of Licensing in the first half and a defendant case history (DCH) on the second half. This persons driving record is clear, noted in the top right, and there are no tickets on her record. There are two accidents that appear on her record, but these are not accidents that are charged towards her because there are no corresponding tickets to go with the accidents. Insurance will make their own decision based on the facts of each case. The first accident is when the vehicle was parked and the second was involved in an accident, but not at fault. The DOL keeps track of accidents for statistical purposes.

The DCH shows all matters where the defendant was charged, either criminally or with an infraction. Even if the matter was ultimately dismissed, the court system keeps track of all matters charged for each defendant. This particular DCH shows from the top down: 1. a pending case; 2. a speeding case that was amended to Inattentive Driving and committed; 3. a speeding ticket that was dismissed; and 4. a failure to obey a traffic control device that was not committed, ultimately the same as a dismissal, but usually indicates that the matter went to a hearing and the judge decided the case on the facts. Even though the defendant has matters on her DCH, they are not on her driving record and therefore her insurance company cannot see any infractions on her record.

A court and prosecutor can see both of these documents, although a judge should only look at these documents for making a determination of the fine imposed only after making the decision that a matter was committed, while a prosecutor may look at these documents at any point and usually does and makes a determination of how they are going to proceed on a case, taking both the ADR and DCH into account.