Midway Title and Notary Services

08/15/2014

8,000 Likes! What a great way to start the Weekend! Thank you, Thank you, for Letting Us Be Your Personal DMV!

08/01/2014

Starting today, August 1, 2014, there are several new laws in effect. Here's a quick summary released yesterday by the Louisiana State Police.

1. School Zone Cell Phone Ban: Motorists are now prohibited from using any type of hand held wireless communications device while traveling through schools zones during posted hours. The law includes use of a cellular/wireless device for engaging in a voice call, accessing, reading, or posting to a social networking site, and/or writing, sending, or reading a text-based communication. The school zone cell phone ban does not apply if the device is being used to report an emergency, is being used in a hands-free manner, or while the vehicle is lawfully parked. Upon first violation of the school zone ban the fine is $175, subsequent violations can be up to $500, and if a crash occurs during the time of the violation, fines can be increased.
2. LA Litter Law Updates: Amendments to the LA litter law now specifically include ci******es and cigarette butts to the official definition of litter. Additionally, the fine for a first offense increases to $300 with 8 hours of community service in a litter abatement program, second offense to $700 with 16 hours of litter abatement, and a third and subsequent offense to $1500 with 80 hours of service in a litter abatement program.

3. Six Year Driver’s License Renewal: The renewal period for Louisiana driver's licenses has been extended from four years to six years with a fee increase to cover the extension of the renewal period. Fee increases vary by class of license, area of residence, and age of license applicant. (This amendment does not go into effect until July 1st, 2015).

4. Inspection Exemptions for Certain Trailers: New amendments to LA inspection sticker requirements exempt single axle two-wheeled trailers and boat trailers from state inspection requirements and the obligation to bear a valid safety inspection certificate/sticker. While exempted from the inspection process, the trailers must still possess the required safety equipment to operate on Louisiana roadways.

5. Vehicle Inspections Can be Conducted in Rain: Another amendment added to the LA inspection sticker requirements changes an old requirement that vehicle inspections stations could not inspect vehicles on rainy days. This new amendment allows vehicles to be inspected when it is raining if the conditions are safe and the vehicle can accurately be checked.

6. Increased Penalties for Fatigued Drivers in Fatal Crashes: Motorists who fail to maintain control of their vehicle due to falling asleep and directly or proximately cause the death of a human being, face increased penalties under Louisiana’s Careless Operation law. In addition to the Careless Operation penalties, motorists involved in a fatality crash may also be charged with Negligent Homicide.

7. Vehicular Homicide classified as a Crime of Violence: The act of Vehicular Homicide (causing the death of a person due to a crash where the driver was impaired) will now be classified as a crime of violence when the offender’s blood alcohol concentration exceeds 0.20 grams percent. The amended classification allows for increased penalties for impaired drivers involved in fatality crashes.

07/25/2014

Only in Louisiana do we have a Justice of the Peace earning almost $90,000 in 2013, while the legislature and governor requires the Office of Motor Vehicles to double or triple fines for residents.

The question of who owns the property in Louisiana's small claims courts is at the heart of a lawsuit targeting Jefferson Parish's 2nd Justice Court in Marrero. Justice of the Peace Patrick DeJean said it's personal property, even though he...

07/22/2014

Don't wait and definitely don't hate. Give Midway Title at call and Let Us Be Your Personal DMV!

Walk into the Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV) on Veterans Memorial Boulevard on a Monday morning and you will be met with smug, dodgy and...

07/02/2014

Driving Without Insurance Just Got Much More Expensive - Need some help with your no insurance flags, give us a call at (985) 419-0355. Let Us Be Your Personal DMV!

Posted In: Automobile Insurance The New Law Louisiana lawmakers are penalizing uninsured drivers by an additional $53 million for failing to maintain minimal automobile liability insurance policy as required by law.

07/01/2014

Transform Your Tuesday! Keep your bots totally legal and skip the long lines. Let Us Be Your Personal DMV! Midway Title (985) 419-0355

06/30/2014

61 years old and Still Sexy! The first Chevrolet Corvette rolled off a General Motors assembly line in Flint, Michigan, sixty one years ago today.

06/27/2014

Save some time and skip the line! We can help many customers online, by phone, by fax, or email. Let Us Be Your Personal DMV! Midway Title (985) 419-0355

06/26/2014

Red, White and Boom - The town of Springfield, LA will hold it's Independence Day celebration on June 29, 2014. There will be a car show from 5pm til with a fireworks show to end the night.
Car show will be at the old Piggly Wiggly parking lot and it's only $10 to enter a car. Trophies will be awarded! Fireworks start at 9pm and normally last around 15-20 minutes. It's a great show, don't miss it! Questions? Contact the Golden Oldies Motor Club http://www.goldenoldiesmotorclub.com/gomc/

06/26/2014

Get a Warrant ~ In an emphatic defense of privacy in the digital age, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that police generally may not search the cellphones of people they arrest without first getting search warrants.

Cellphones are unlike anything else police may find on someone they arrest, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court. They are "not just another technological convenience," he said, but ubiquitous, increasingly powerful computers that contain vast quantities of personal, sensitive information.

"With all they contain and all they may reveal, they hold for many Americans the privacies of life," Roberts declared. So the message to police about what they should do before rummaging through a cellphone's contents following an arrest is simple: "Get a warrant."

The chief justice acknowledged that barring searches would affect law enforcement, but he said: "Privacy comes at a cost."

By ruling as it did, the court chose not to extend earlier decisions from the 1970s— when cellphone technology was not yet available — that allow police to empty a suspect's pockets and examine whatever they find to ensure officers' safety and prevent the destruction of evidence.

The Obama administration and the state of California, defending cellphone searches, said the phones should have no greater protection from a search than anything else police find. But the defendants in the current cases, backed by civil libertarians, librarians and news media groups, argued that cellphones, especially smartphones, can store troves of sensitive personal information.

"By recognizing that the digital revolution has transformed our expectations of privacy, today's decision is itself revolutionary and will help to protect the privacy rights of all Americans," said American Civil Liberties Union legal director Steven Shapiro.

Under the Constitution's Fourth Amendment, police generally need a warrant before they can conduct a search. The warrant itself must be based on "probable cause," evidence that a crime has been committed.

In the cases decided Wednesday, one defendant carried a smartphone, while the other carried an older flip phone. The police looked through both without first getting search warrants.

Roberts said there's no comparison between cellphones and packages of ci******es and other items that were at issue in the earlier cases.

A ride on horseback and a flight to the moon both "are ways of getting from point A to point B, but little else justifies lumping them together," he said.

Authorities concerned about the destruction of evidence can take steps to prevent the remote erasure of a phone's contents or the activation of encryption, Roberts said. The police still may seize the cellphone and turn it off or remove its battery. If they think that turning it off could trigger encryption when the phone is turned back on, police can leave the phone on and place it in a special Faraday bag that isolates the phone from radio waves, he said.

One exception to the warrant requirement left open by the decision is a case in which officers reasonably fear for their safety or the lives of others.

03/31/2014

4,000 Likes and Counting!

Thank you guys so much for 4,000 Likes! We are Proud that You've Let Us Be Your Personal DMV!

03/05/2014

Do you have a great ride? Looking for a great cause to support? Check out the Golden Oldies Motor Club, Cars for Kids Car Show!