DMV social distancing

"ImmoralMinority" (araimondo)
06/12/2020 at 12:18 • Filed to: None

The line outside is horrific. We had an appointment for my son to take his learner’s permit test.

He failed. Back to the drawing board.

DISCUSSION (20)

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > ImmoralMinority
06/12/2020 at 12:23

I went to our version yesterday, luckily hit it at the right time, but it was still weird.

functionoverfashion > ImmoralMinority
06/12/2020 at 12:26

Your DMV looks like an airport.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > ImmoralMinority
06/12/2020 at 12:28

I’m not even sure if our DMVs have reopened yet. I should probably check that, I need to get a VT license at some point.

facw > ImmoralMinority
06/12/2020 at 12:29

That’s getting close to a good design! Huge waiting areas mean you are designing for terrible service. Now they just need to work on the not having terrible service thing!

fintail > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
06/12/2020 at 12:51

Just do it like WA - privatize all testing, offices only used for the physical issuance of licenses.

Yeah, it opens a door for a lot of shenanigans in terms of licenses being bought etc, but in a society where residency is for sale, it works.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > ImmoralMinority
06/12/2020 at 12:52

learners permit test?

is that like the theory test here?... as in gotta pass theory before you are allowed to take lessons?

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > fintail
06/12/2020 at 12:53

I don’t like the idea of that. In our system the government controls everything. Testing, licencing, registration AND insurance.

While there is lots of debate whether insurance should be free market or not, it does work pretty smoothly here.

Chariotoflove > ImmoralMinority
06/12/2020 at 12:54

My last DMV visit, the line was out the door, and this was without covid.

fintail > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
06/12/2020 at 12:55

I’m mostly joking. The privatized testing system for cars scares me a bit, but then again, we are still no worse than Richmond or Burnaby when it comes to dipshit drivers :)

Ideally, it would be a stricter test not connected to private profit.

VW Max > farscythe - makin da cawfee!
06/12/2020 at 13:06

In Wisconsin a learner’s permit tes t is what I imagine your theory test would be like. Road signs, right of way, etc. After that you can take lessons and drive with a parent in the car. I imagine California is very similar.

TheRealBicycleBuck > ImmoralMinority
06/12/2020 at 13:13

That’s a bummer.

Brickman > ImmoralMinority
06/12/2020 at 13:16

Fancy DMV. My local DMV is literally an old house that was converted into an office.

Azrek > ImmoralMinority
06/12/2020 at 13:17

I had to schedule mine for a few weeks from now. My Drivers License Expires on my birthday...coming soon...and they won’t let me renew online.

someassemblyrequired > ImmoralMinority
06/12/2020 at 13:22

Washington allows you to do everything but licenses at private offices. Sooooo much better even though it’s a few bucks more.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > ImmoralMinority
06/12/2020 at 14:01

I failed mine first time around. There were only about 5 questions I could conceivably miss out of the possible questions that could be given and I got all of them. The maximum number you could miss was 5.

No one else I know studied for the test and no one else I know failed it. You would have to try to fail if you got any other combination than the one I got. Sometimes you just get unlucky.

The 5 questions I missed were about the number of points you get on your license for DUIs, etc, with certain classes of licenses.

ranwhenparked > fintail
06/12/2020 at 14:05

We really need to do that with our inspections. Right now, the DOT handles everything. 3 testing centers for the whole state, 1 per county, and its just a cursory drive-through check, you don’t even get out of the car. Brakes, lights, window operation, horn, VIN, and tailpipe emissions, that’s it. There’s some godawful heaps creaking around on the roads because of it. And if the car’s new enough, you can pay to go 5 years before your next inspection. A lot can happen in 5 years, regardless of age.

Would be nice if almost every corner garage could handle inspections, you could drop the car off the night before, pick it up after work the day after, without having to take any time out of the day or drive any real distance. And they would have the time to put it up on a lift and throughly check more things. Yeah, some scammy garages would defraud people or slap stickers on junkers for a bribe, that’s why you have to have a regulatory regime in place to police that, done right, it would be way more convenient.

fintail > ranwhenparked
06/12/2020 at 14:19

I live in a low rust area, what’s an inspection? :) We used to have emissions tests in a few counties for cars in a specific age group, but that has been phased out as older cars age off the road. Otherwise, virtually nothing. I think there’s some kind of procedure if you re-register a totaled car, but nothing else I know of.

What you describe sounds like how CA handles emissions, and if it is mandated for every car, that makes more sense than 1 location per million people.

Discerning > ImmoralMinority
06/12/2020 at 14:53

That’s a really nice looking DMV. The ones in Atlanta our awful.

The worst one I went to was in a dead mall and it was packed to the gills. No real chairs or desks. Literally folding chairs and those folding desks everywhere and it smelled very strongly of weed. We went to a different location that was moderately better.

DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever > ImmoralMinority
06/12/2020 at 15:43

Oddly enough I had the best DMV experience ever thanks to the virus. Made a same day appointment, showed up 10 minutes early and they took me right away and I was out in 10 minutes and there was no line at all.

Although they also postponed a lot of stuff like registration and getting learners permits.

CaptDale - is secretly British > ImmoralMinority
06/13/2020 at 12:32

That is a classy DMV. Sorry to hear about the fail. It happens pretty often though.