A recent decision by the European Court of Justice made it harder for European police agencies to share information about speeding tickets. Authorities in Kern County, however, have no such misgivings.

In May 2010, the ECJ struck down a provision that had allowed European Union countries to share information with one another regarding speeding tickets, red light tickets, no seatbelt tickets and some other traffic offenses. The justices ruled that the measures involved roadway safety and not the "prevention of crime."

The ban does not take effect until May 2015, and officials hope to have a new information-sharing policy in place well before that time.

Nearly all states, including California and Nevada, share information with one another about major and minor traffic violations. So, the speeding ticket you receive on vacation or a business trip to another state will most likely come back to haunt you when you try to renew your drivers' license.

Although the vision of a single Big Brother-type entity that controls everything about information sharing has yet to become a reality, law enforcement has several tools available to find out who's been naughty or nice in a different jurisdiction, at least in terms of driving habits:

California belongs to the DLC but not the NRVC. But many law enforcement agencies share information with each other on a voluntary basis, so if you have an out-of-state warrant, there's a pretty good chance the patrol officer in Tulare County still knows about it.