State approved insanity - the DMV
Submitted by CarolinaGirl on Thu, 01/18/2007 - 2:32pm
Recently it became my turn to submit to the torture treatment administered by the Department of Motor Vehicles and renew my Driver's License. I know there are horror stories statewide and we've all heard them. I will tell my short story and make my suggestion (although they didn't ask) which if taken literally could save good drivers a lot of needless stress and free up time for emphasis to be placed on the bad drivers.
It was Tuesday of this week that I decided to go for renewal. The location was near my house and when I got there I couldn't even get in the parking lot. There were literally no (zero) parking places left in the lot. That was a clue that things were going to be bad. So, I saw a place beside the building but well off the road where it was obvious that others had been parking for months. So, I parked there too, blocking nothing and off the road. I went into the DMV and the line to the 'Information counter' stretched out the door. People in front of me told stories of having been turned away several times. It was 1:00PM when I went. It took me one hour and 15 minutes to get my turn at getting information. One lady tried to bypass information and the officer almost threw a body block on her. So, I stayed in line.
When I got to the information counter I promptly asked if this was a 'bad' day and if things would be better another day. The response was 'No. Every day is like this.' Then, she started hitting the computer and just walked away and whispered to another employee, etc for almost 15 minutes. Everyone in line was asking what I was waiting for and I had do say I didn't know. Finally, she came back asked what I wanted, I said renewal, she checked me out and gave me a ticket with a number pointing me to the next room.
Soon Barney Phyfe's cousin came in and asked whose car it was parked beside the building and I confessed. He said I'd have to move it and he didn't care if there were no places to park. He said it was blocking the view and there was a 'no parking' sign. I shook my head in disbelief but went out to move it (somewhere). The car was 25 feet from any driveway or road so there was no way it was blocking the vision and it was another 50 feet from the 'no parking' sign which I didn't think applied there. Luckily, someone came out soon and gave me their place so I could return to the line.
They had stopped taking road test applicants around 3:00 and the stopped a few other things and I had just squeaked in under the renewal breaking point. So, what was the holdup now? At 4:30PM it was my turn and I was happy to go home. But, during my wait, I was assured by many other people that it had relatively easy for me compared to them.
As the mind will do under these circumstances, mine began to wander. I thought of ways to solve the problem and what was possibly causing the problem. If you think about it, other than getting the tax dollars, there really isn't much that DMV does to benefit drivers on the road. All one has to do is drive down a major highway and see other drivers zipping by to understand it is virtually taken with a grain of salt. So, now for the solution. Since the state obviously is interested in my money if not my time, the reasonable solution would be to allow drivers with no tickets and no accidents, regardless of age, to renew over the internet. Requiring people over a certain age to come in wouldn't make sense either and would be discriminatory. So, ANYONE with a perfect driving record could renew over the internet and they would still get their revenue.
Too simple. It won't happen. But still a good idea.
Then, there was the photo. And, just when I thought they couldn't get any worse than the last onee...
This gives me the creeps
just hearing about it. I think I'd rather go to the dentist - and I hate the dentist.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Ah, the good 'ol DMV
the last time I went, I had to do a name change and transfer my FL license to NC.
Although I didn't have the lengthy wait time you suffered through, I did manage to get a DMV worker who INSISTED I could not change the name on my license without providing him with a certain (very personal) legal document in spite of the fact that it CLEARLY STATED in all of the DMV literature that I need only present a birth certificate and SS card to make the change. After arguing with this man for close to 20 minutes - including much raising of the voice, waiving of aforementioned DMV literature and overall righteous indignation - another DMV employee came over to clarify the rule (ie: show him the very same literature I was holding that said all you need to change your name is a birth certificate and ss card).
Imagine, if you will, the ID picture taken for my license after all of that!
Larry Kissell is MY Congressman
Oh, my name change ordeal took 30 years...
I am one of those people who was blessed with a double name. That was never a problem with me except that I just hate it when people decide to take it upon themselves to call me by only one of those two names. All was fine when I first presented my birth certificate, got my license and both names were on the document. Then, along came married life and the state informed me that I was no longer who I thought I was. I was First name, maiden name, surname... no waffling. That's who I was going to be! End of subject. In my mind I was wondering how men were going to be handling that issue.
Every time I went for renewal, I asked the same question, expecting and receiving the same answer... 'You are who we say you are'... first name, maiden name, last name.
So, I decided to humor the state and have my name changed by running the first and middle name together as one (sort of a marriage of names). The county said it was a state issue, the state said it was the city and on and on. Finally the county said okay I could post a legal notice for 30 days, pay a few hundred dollars and do it. I Went to get the form to proceed but the woman let out a scream 'What!' and said I'd have to 'get an attorney'. But lady, all I want to do is remove a space from my name...nothing really...just a space which is nothing. Then she declared I wouldn't be changing my name so I couldn't do that... but the state says that isn't my name. After months of wrangling with first one and another beauracracy, I gave up.
One day, thirty some years after this problem began, I went to DMV and ask my same one question (It's sort of like the one phone call prisoners get). It was a Friday afternoon and the examiner said he didn't know why but things had been slow that day and that never happened before. So, he said could I 'prove' to him that I was the 'other person'... the one on my birth certificate. He said they would be closing in about an hour but if I could get home, find my birth certificate and bring it back and ask for him before closing time, he would use his good judgment. Through rush hour traffic in Charlotte, I was hell-bent on getting there and back so God help anyone who got in my way! I made it.
Now, thirty some years later, I know who I am! Who said you couldn't change beauracracy's mind.
One voice...SHOUT it out and let it ring! Edwards 2008
I have to go get my license renewed in May
I am dreading it.
Your title made me laugh out loud when I read it. I despise going to the DMV. I have a perfect driving record. I've never had a moving violation. I will stand in line for two hours at the very least.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
***************************
Vote Democratic, the ass you save may be your own.
Happy Birthday.
They have a very unique way of wishing you happy birthday.
One voice...SHOUT it out and let it ring! Edwards 2008
SC went to 10 year licenses.
That is an idea I can get behind.
Where are the candidates?
Jesus Swept ticked me off. Too short. I loved the characters and then POOF it was over.
-me
German licenses
never expire. But you have to be 18 to drive, and take a full YEAR of driving classes. Not the kind where you just sit and watch videos of cars crashing, but the kind where you learn defensive driving -- what to do if you lose control at speed, how to drive on ice/snow, how to avoid becoming a bloodstain on the Autobahn.
... It'd never work here.
I think it's 8 years
in FL.
And you can renew by mail until a certain age.
(probably can renew online now, but I haven't lived there since '99...)
And I never spent more than 45 minutes doing my DMV business.
Go figure...they can't keep track of your votes but they sure can move you through the DMV!
Larry Kissell is MY Congressman
'A certain age' gripes me.
I really don't see how the state can discriminate that way and I am not yet 'a certain age'. ;-) IF the elderly have more accidents (which I don't believe) they would certainly show up on their license. I think the only legal and moral way to do it is to go by accidents and tickets. If they are bad drivers, it will show. Sooner or later the guy who zips in and out of traffic will have an accident. Now, he may cause three other people to lose automatic renewal in the process, but to impose different rules for 'those of a certain age' has always made me furious... even when I was barely an age.
One voice...SHOUT it out and let it ring! Edwards 2008
oh, boy.
Bless your heart, CarolinaGirl. 1pm to 4:30 to get your pic taken and a little card made is beyond ridiculous. I LOVE your internet idea.
Thanks for posting your account here, though. It's a good warning. I have to renew my license before March. I could also use an oil change and the State would appreciate it very much if I got my car inspected. (They were kind enough to send a letter suggesting I do that.) Is there a DMV office around that has an Oil Change/Inspection garage set up next it?
Guess I need to just take a vacation day and get there at 8am, then maybe I can get my other stuff done the same day and not waste a saturday on it. How do hourly workers with no vacation days get their licenses renewed?
"They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum Then they charged the people a dollar 'n a half just to see 'em. Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."
Leslie
Now, that is a revenue producing idea. An oil change and lub job whil you get your license. I like it. If they get any slower, you could get the motor overhauled too. ;-)
My birthday isn't until the end of February, but I decided not to challenge the system.
One voice...SHOUT it out and let it ring! Edwards 2008
Good question, Leslie.
Around here, they can't even do it on their lunch hour. The DMV is closed between 12 an 1.
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi
Famous people and driver's license.
I guess I sat there too long waiting for my turn, but I began wondering why you never see any famous people at the DMV. I suspect there is a 'back door' or a 'proxy method' that us ordinarys don't get to use. In all of the years I've lived in Charlotte, I've never seen one of the Hornets (back when), or the Panthers, or anyone else even close to being recognized at the DMV. The office I go to isn't in the dumpy side of town, so you would think I would find some one even considering the rotation and the fact that 'demure Pisces' wouldn't be caught dead playing sports. ;-) So, I'd just like to know if ANYONE has ever seen ANYONE famous or even recognizable at the DMV.
One voice...SHOUT it out and let it ring! Edwards 2008
not in NC
but I saw Miami Dolphin player Zach Thomas at the DMV in Florida.
Larry Kissell is MY Congressman