All Cars, All the Time

DMV Disaster!

It's disaster day here at ACATT!

Forget all about Y2K. California’s DMV is trying to figure out how it is going to jam 22 million licensed drivers and 2 million identification card holders through its 169 field offices. That’s right…24 million people into 169 already crowded offices. Why, you ask? Bureaucracy of course. The new Federal “Real ID” act requires that everyone shows up to renew their license in person with either their passport or birth certificate and two proofs of their address. No mail in renewals will be allowed. Currently California drivers can renew their licenses by mail twice, meaning a trip to the DMV only once every 15 years. Validating a passport should be easy enough, but how do you verify a birth certificate? The DMV can’t call all the county registrars around the country, now can it? To date nothing has been done about this issue, but some sort of national database is in the offing. Then there is the thorny issue of identity of validating someone born outside the United States. To make matters worse there has been no Federal money allocated to assist states in preparing for the 2008 Real ID implementation deadline. Stay tuned for more info as 2008 draws closer.