ALBANY, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) – The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles announced on Wednesday, March 29 that they will be implementing a new method to get more drivers to donate their organs.

The DMV announced that anyone who registers a vehicle at their offices will also be asked if they would like to register to be an organ donor. The department cites a 46% registration rate among New Yorkers as the reason for the method, lagging far behind the national average of 62%. According to Donate Life NYS, another 2.7 million new donors in New York would have to be added to the registry to meet the national average.

Before the announcement today, there were still several ways to enroll, but the most common way was to complete that section when renewing a driver’s license. As of March 29, over 8,000 New Yorkers are on the national transplant wait list, and over 1,100 of them have been waiting more than five years for a transplant.

“There is no greater gift than the gift of life, and DMV is glad to be the number one-way New Yorkers register to be potential life savers,” DMV Commissioner Mark Schroeder said in a statement. “We are proud to take every opportunity to remind our customers of the great need for organ donors.

If you wish to enroll, you are asked to either go to the DMV website (dmv.ny.gov) or to the Donate Life Registry website, at donatelife.ny.gov.