The holidays! What’s not to love? There’s great music, pretty lights, parties aplenty and, if you’re lucky, a great gift waiting for you under some adorable holiday-themed paper. The holiday season does come its share of challenges amongst the joy, and one of my least favorites is traveling during this season and all the traffic that goes along with it.

Like any good journey, traveling during the holiday season requires some thinking ahead and preparation. Make sure you’re prepared to hit the road with these travel and safety tips.

Be Mindful of Massachusetts Law

• In the state of Massachusetts, all occupants of your vehicle are required to wear seat belts. Make sure you have a seat and working belt for every passenger and yourself when traveling this holiday.
• The speed limit on most Massachusetts highways is 65mph, however, some can be as low as 55mph. Leave with plenty of time to get where you’re going this holiday season and pay attention to the speed limit – nothing says “Bah Humbug!” like shelling out for a speeding ticket.
• If you hit any rotaries on your journey, remember to yield to those already in the rotary when entering and always enter to the right.
• Texting while driving has been banned in Massachusetts. Let it wait until you get there or you could face $100-$500 in fines, depending on whether it is your first offense. This applies to when you’re stopped at red lights. Again, nothing says “Bah Humbug!” like a hefty ticket.

Be Ready for the Road

• Sign up to get a free FAST LANE transponder and cruise through the tolls on the Turnpike, the Sumner and Ted Williams Tunnels, and the Tobin Memorial Bridge on the way to Grandma’s. If you’re heading out of state, your FAST LANE transponder can be used anywhere E-ZPass is accepted.
• New England weather is unpredictable, so make sure you’ve winterized your car. Snow tires, an ice scraper, and perhaps a foldable shovel will keep you safe on wintery roads.
• With a lot of people on the road, wintery conditions and the stress of the holidays, anything can happen. Make sure you’re covered with auto insurance.

Have Fun! But Not Too Much Fun…

• Turn up the Christmas music while you travel! Most stations will play Christmas music mixed in with their standards, but there are a few stations that play strictly holiday themed music. Oldies 103.3 and 105.7 WROR play Christmas music round the clock, and WROR has an adorable segment where kids can call into Santa.
• Plan ahead if you plan on drinking, and make sure have a designated driver for when you need to get home. The legal limit is a blood-alcohol content under .08. Drunk driving increases over the holidays, and police will be on the lookout for drunk drivers. Not only does driving under the influence put you in danger of getting arrested, it puts everyone you pass on the road in danger. Err on the side of safety and avoid a drunk driving accident by making sure you have a sober ride home.

Regardless of what you’re celebrating or where you are celebrating, we wish you a safe and easy trip and a very happy holiday season!

Photo by freakapotimus

“Every year the plate lottery generates thousands of applicants because all drivers have an equal shot at winning one of these coveted plates… Last year more than six thousand people participated and this year we expect even greater interest.”

- Registrar Rachel Kaprielian.

Applications for the license plate lottery are available in all RMV branches and online at: www.mass.gov/rmv/forms/registration.htm. To be accepted all applications must be postmarked no later than August 9th 2010. Postcard entries, as indicated by MassDOT, will not be accepted. Those who have won the lottery and do not register their vehicles by December 31, 2010 will forfeit their license plates and will be offered to a list of 25 alternative winners who will be chosen during the main drawing.

The lottery winners will be announced at a live drawing at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum Saturday August 28th at 11:00 am. Admission to the museum and the current “Curve Appeal” exhibit will be free to all applicants. For official drawing details and a complete list of the plates up for drawing visit: www.mass.gov/rmv. Lottery winners will be posted on the RMV website Monday, August 30th.

he Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has also required the manufacturer to set up a facility in Massachusetts for quicker delivery and to set up new jobs, the first time in over a decade they were manufactured locally.

Current driver’s licenses, identification cards, commercial driver’s licenses, junior operator and under 21 licenses will remain valid until their next renewal date. The Massachusetts registry expects to distribute approximately 1.4 million of the new cards to customers over the next year. The new licenses will be phased in over the next five years as drivers are required to renew their licenses.

New Drivers & Those Transfering to a Massachusetts License Make Appointments Online Avoiding the RMV Wait

The mere idea of visiting the RMV is a dreary nightmare to many: taking a number, filling out paper work, waiting, and waiting… and waiting. The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles has recognized your impatience and frustration of visiting a branch in creating numerous opportunities for drivers to complete transactions and other. For a number of drivers who are still required to visit a branch, the RMV has made the visit an even less stressful process.

The registry is working on creating additional web functions for new drivers and new Massachusetts residents to set meeting times to process paperwork without the wait. The RMV tested a pilot program at its Springfield branch for the past few  months, and with its success will now make the service available statewide. During the pilot a total of 89 customers scheduled appointments.

The Massachusetts RMV website mass.gov/rmv holds an interactive guide that will walk applicants through the process and notify the driver of required documents that will be needed at the meeting to verify identity and residency.

An average of 45,000 customers visit an RMV branch to cancel their vehicle registration a month. Prior to the new implementations drivers would have to wait in line at a branch to turn in their plates and receive a proof of cancellation. Today massDOT posted two additional options to cancel a vehicle’s registration:

• Option 1: Visit the RMV’s online branch at www.mass.gov/rmv to verify plate cancellation. The customer will be instructed to destroy or recycle their license plates and need not visit a branch to return them.
• Option 2: Under a pilot program available in the Watertown branch and expanded to Wilmington, Worcester and Plymouth by the end of the month, customers will be able to return their plates using a touch-screen kiosk in the branch lobby without waiting in line. Customers will use the touch-screen kiosk to print their own cancellation notices and deposit their canceled plates into the kiosk.

The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles has made a large move encouraging drivers to use the online website by offering additional services through the RMV website. Drivers applying for a new license or converting an out-of-state license may fill out the majority of the paperwork online and be ready to complete the transaction in a branch, decreasing the amount of time spent in the branch itself. Other online services offered by the RMV include: license and registration renewals, ordering a Fast Lane transponder, driving record and crash police reports, reviewing a registration, title or lien, and signing up to become an organ and tissue donor.

Online plate cancellation was added to www.mass.gov/rmv website last month as a soft launch.  Thus far the online cancellation has been used by 3,230 customers. Although this service is only a small portion of RMV operations, programmers are looking adding other simple service transactions to self-help kiosks such as paying tickets or citations.

A Massachusetts driver’s license is valid up to five years from issue date and will expire on your birthday. You may renew your drivers license up to a year before the expiration date. However if you’re more of a procrastinator, the RMV recommends renewing driver’s license at least seven days before expiration. Thus allowing enough time to receive your new license in the mail before your current license expires.

Also be prepared to pay a renewal fee. The Massachusetts government charges $25 for an amendment or duplicate licensing and $75 for the renewal of a Class A, B, or C license. For more information on the Massachusetts licensing charges visit the RVM fees page where renewals, registration, and title transfer fees are listed.

However it is important to remember you may not renew your license online if you:

• have a license photo that was taken before age 21
• have a license photo that was taken more than nine years ago
• hold a commercial driver’s license
• need to legally change your name
• have filed for a change of address however have not received a confirmation e-mail
• would like to register to vote
• do not have a Social Security number

In these cases you will need to visit a local RMV branch to renew and have additional changes made.

Let’s say a driver has just experienced an accident resulting in illegible license plate. The vehicle is fine, only slight cosmetic damage has been done. Our driver has immediately applied for new plates from the RMV, as any driver without a license plate or an illegible plate should do. The plates however will not arrive for another four to six weeks! The driver works across Boston from his home and can not miss work tomorrow, much less for the next four weeks. In the mean time our driver must create a temporary plate. What are the requirements for this make shift license plate? Ann Dufresne gives a few guidelines:

“The legislation says approximate a standard plate as best as you can. There are no specific requirements for size, shape. It just needs to be legible from 60 feet away like a real plate. The hope is that one would use common sense.”

- RMV spokeswoman Ann Dufresne in an e-mail to Peter DeMarco of the Boston Globe

A temporary license plate must be placed in the same spot an official license plate would be located. Meaning the plates should be secured in the center of the rear or front bumper. Keep in mind when a home made license plate is placed on a rear bumper it must be illuminated. Placing temporary plates else, such as in the rear view window, will not legally replace a missing plate and the driver may be ticketed.

Creating a temporary license plate and placing it in the proper location is not enough to avoid a ticket. If you are pulled over with temporary plates you must also keep proof of the license plate application that verifies your plates are in the process of being made and on their way. If you have a question of whether or not a temporary plate will allow you to legally drive the streets, consult your local Registry of Motor Vehicles.

The Massachusetts RMV experienced 13 million dollars in budget cuts this past year. In an effort to accommodate this severe decrease in funding itwas announced last July 11 branches would close. In the plan to close these branched the RMV recognized the need to continue serving Massachusetts drivers. In response to this need 5 new locations will be opened in state owned buildings ing an expected 1.7 million dollars on rent alone.

In an effort to reduce spending the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles has also made many services available online. Giving drivers the convenience of accessing many documents and processing payments on their own time schedule and without having to stand in line! The Massachusetts RMV has even allowed residents to renew their license online for every other renewal period. For license renewals a driver will only have to visit the RMV every 10 years for an updated license photo.

The newest addition the Registry of Motor Vehicle’s online accessis the easy and expedient access  to accident reports. If a police officer is not present at the scene of an accident and damages are more than $1,000 or is someone is injured those involved in the accident are required to submit a police report to the Massachusetts RMV. The previously time consuming search for an accident report and the pain of waiting for a certified record to be mailed will be no more. With the new online system the RMV will be able to process a request for an accident report within 24 hours of of the record beingfound and may also be sent by e-mail. The express branch looks promising, let’s hope for few hiccups in the big move this weekend!

Inspectors found more than 52 violations by the school’s transportation system. A few of these included: driving with out the proper licensing, overloaded buses, equipment defects, and equipment so old or worn down it was unsafe to drive. This is the second city wide transportation inspection Massachusetts has seen this year. Hopefully these investigations will inspire transportation services across the state to continue following the laws and regulations of safe driving.

Here are a few things to remember about auto insurance cancellations:

• Driving with out insurance is illegal. Should anything happen while you’re driving, not only will the violation be added to your driving record with a citation, raising your insurance rates – if you’re at fault for an accident, all damages your insurance company would have paid will come straight out of your pocket.
• You don’t need to wait for renewal time to cancel a policy. Shopping around to find another policy with better rates is a great idea. No need to wait until your current policy is up to start saving.
• Never ever ignore your insurance bill. Ignoring your insurance bill may be cause for cancellation due to non-payment. When this occurs not only will future insurance companies see you as a higher risk, they may ask you to pay the full insurance amount up front.
• Cancellation must be done in writing. When you notify your current insurance company of your cancellation allow a reasonable amount of time for cancellation. When notifying the company, be sure and include the date you would like cancellation to take place giving yourself peace of mind for when you’re old coverage is up and your new one is to begin.