Going to the DMV is pretty much a universally loathed experience, with long lines, inefficient processing, and needless forms.
Is the experience of getting a license, registering a vehicle, etc. this bad in developed countries? Are there any that are more streamlined?
Not sure about other countries, but there is an enormous variation between states in the US. From my relatively limited experience, the experience is worse the farther east you go:
Massachusetts - the dreaded Registry of Motor Vehicles. Now my experience is from the late 80s, but the memory still give me nightmares. Every stereotype about the DMV was true. Wait fifteen minutes in one line, just to be told to go to the back a different line. Lines to get forms to fill out and take to other lines. Surly, disinterested clerks.
Pennsylvania. This is where I got my first license in 1976, and where I also got a license in 2000 (and where my son got his first license in 2011). The only thing that changes in the intervening years is that the written part of the driving test is taken on a computer. One or two people handling everything. Same line for everyone, regardless of the complexity of the situation. I got there and there were only five people ahead of me, still took over an hour. Plus, only handled driver’s services (licenses) - if you needed anything vehicle related you had to go to a “tag service” - a company whose primary business is processing vehicle titles and registrations. Why? Because Pennsylvania law requires that all vehicle serves are handled from one place in Harrisburg. The “tag service” (also called “courier service”) takes the paperwork to Harrisburg for you - I believe electronically now, but into a system only they have access to. of source, they charge a fee.
Wisconsin. Early 90s. Very nice waiting area, take a number based on the particular services you needed. I don’t recall any annoyances whatsoever. In and out in a half hour, license and plates.
Arizona. Late 90s and last year. Similar setup to Wisconsin, you check in at a desk and get a number based on services required. Quite a bit slower, but they spent more time verifying identity. Compared to PA and MA? A breeze.
Assuming you mean as ‘bad’ as the US, I think it actually varies significantly in the US by state, or even over time in a given state. For example in NJ it used to fit the stereotype of slow, unfriendly etc. But in recent years I’ve found it pretty streamlined and friendly. Line length depends when you go, but they don’t make you fill out unnecessary stuff or set you up to fail and go to the back of the line, nor are they surly.
In most developed countries it’s harder to get a drivers license than the US in substantive terms of how hard the theoretical and practical driving tests are, not necessarily inefficient or needless but still.
You have obviously never been the California DMV
They are OK here in NC , at least where I live.
Just recently I was at an Ohio DMV branch to get new plates. I waited on line briefly, the person I dealt with was polite (she did manage to input my info wrong the first time but caught her mistake quickly), and I had my plates and was out the door in maybe 15 minutes from the time I entered.
Never had a problem at that DMV branch.
Oh, and here’s the theme song for the thread.
Quarter to three
At the DMV
That’s when I saw her
She didn’t see me
Behind Window B
Explaining patiently
How she needs to see
Six forms of ID
I thought the same until I had to deal with the Illinois one, and THEN a separate Chicago one.
In California you might have to wait 10 minutes with an appointment, 2 hours without one, and either way your thing is usually done in about half an hour once they get to your number.
In Illinois they don’t even take appointments, and it took me about 6 hours to register a car and get a license, the clerks were exceptionally annoyed at your presence, and forgot to ask certain questions (sending you back in line multiple times). Then I needed another half an hour for a Chicago “sticker” a block or two away…
It was so bad that going to the DMV became one of the things I looked forward to when I moved back to California…
Actually, I found an old rant I posted the day I first visited the Illinois one… just to illustrate how bad it is:
I thought the Cali DMV was bad. Make an appointment and still have to wait 15-20 minutes to get seen.
Wellllllll… let me tell you about how it works in Illinois.
First, you can’t make appointments. Not online, not over the phone, you just can’t. There’s no estimated wait time. No suggested times. Just show up and pray.
So you get there and the first thing you realize is that the DMV isn’t really the DMV, but three separate parts of the Secretary of State. This means that you can’t talk to one person or one organization to deal with your car needs.
First you line up for driver’s license portion. There is one line to get a number. You get your number and wait. Eventually you are called and speak to the first person, who does some paperwork and sends you over to the second person. There you wait in line again. Eventually you speak to the second person, who takes your payment and then sends you to the third person. You wait in line for the third person, who finally hands you a driver’s license test. You take the test, wait in line again to return to the third person, who then sends you to the fourth person to take a picture. The fourth person makes you wait in a separate area for a fifth person to call you up, who then sends you back to the fourth person to actually get your photo taken.
Eventually this process concludes and you have a temporary driver’s license, but your journey is far from over. Then you have to get your vehicle license plate and registration. So you go next door to another line. At this point, a sixth person will tell you to go to another counter. The seventh person does some more paperwork and sends you to the eighth person, who takes your payment. The eighth person sends you back to the fifth person, and depending on their mood, you can either line up all over again or sometimes somewhat cut the line and jump straight back to the seventh person. Eventually the seventh person sends you to the ninth person to actually receive your license plate and registration. The ninth person realizes the seventh person made a mistake, but by now you know to avoid person number six, so you go straight back to lining up in directly in front of person number seven, norms be damned. Eventually person seven sends you back to person nine, who hands you the materials you need.
Oh, but the journey still isn’t done. Now you have to get your City of Chicago tax sticker, because Illinois somehow can’t be bothered to deal with Chicago technicalities. So you walk through a long underground tunnel – it’s not even in the same building – and eventually arrive at a massive marble building, at the intersection of some unmarked indoor crossroads. Undaunted, you pick a direction and go, asking the security guard for help. Eventually you arrive at the third department and stand in your twentieth line for the day and get your Chicago sticker.
Now, let’s think about this for a second. The San Francisco Passport Agency uses 1 person and half an hour to process an emergency passport. In that time they verify my citizenship, residence, identity, international travel, probably criminal history and terrorist watchlist status, and an hour later they will have printed me a new passport, holograms and all. The total cost for this procedure is around $145.
Meanwhile, the Illinois Secretary of State wants to know whether I can drive. Nevermind that I’m already licensed in California AND internationally. Nevermind that this is an everyday activity that probably 90% of residents have to go through, unlike the select crowd that uses passports. They need to hire 10 people in a 4-hour process costing nearly $500 to validate this, yet none of the documents can actually be produced for another month (and probably fifteen more people).
What.
The.
Fuck.
In the states that are quick, is that because the office is just mostly empty, or did they do something to streamline their system? This seems like a really stupid idea to leave up to individual states instead of having a unified federal system (or at least recommended best practices)…
Victoria, Australia - no, VicRoads customer service is a model of quiet efficiency (though the road accident insurance section has a nasty reputation for not paying out very well … but that’s insurance for you)
If you want nightmarish bureaucracy, you want CenterLink (the unemployment office)
I had to spend some time at the Social Security office to replace a Social Security card that I don’t think I’ve seen in my adult life. I would gladly visit any DMV office rather than go through that again.
PA DMV (PennDOT) isn’t bad for the quadrennial license renewal. I’m usually in and out in 10 minutes.
The Massachusetts RMV is infinitely better than it was back then. A clerk checks you in as soon as you enter, confirming proper paperwork and sending you to the correct area. In over 25 years of being a patron of the RMV, I can honestly say I have never waited more than 15 minutes. That includes a walk-in CDL written exam. I renewed a registration a month ago, it was about 7 minutes from entering the Fall River branch to walking out with a new registration.
Rhode Island’s DMV, on the other hand, has been a catastrophe worthy of an Irwin Allen movie.
In the UK it’s almost entirely done online. For the most part it’s a pretty painless experience (apart from the cost) but some people do have problems and it is wise to check and double check that all is in order.
Cars are issued with a licence plate unique to that car when they are first registered with DVLA.
Owners have to ‘pay’ and annual tax which varies according to its pollution score.
Owners have to register any change of address on pain of a considerable fine.
I suspect there is also great variations between municipalities within states. The DMV experience in a little town in upstate New York is going to be very different from one in downtown Manhattan.
California DMV is fine, you can make an appointment. They have a good website that will let you know what is needed for the various things that you can do at the DMV.
It depends. The Schenectady County DMV is pretty efficient. It rarely takes more than half an hour to do basic business.
The Albany County one was terrible. Of course, it was far more crowded.
I was actually going to mention New Jersey.
While I wouldn’t call it a pleasant experience*, I was generally in and out in a few minutes, aside from my initial registration**.
*I grew up and currently live in Ohio, where professional, succinct and efficient are often seen as rude. For gosh sakes, no one called me hon, sweety, or darling!
**Bought the car in Ohio, registered in Jersey.
Counterpoint: Last time I went to the DMV in Chicago, it was a streamlined processed where you didn’t even have to wait in line and I was done in about half an hour.
Ah, so you had fun downtown too, going from the county building/city hall and the thompson center and back and forth through that cramped tunnel that smells like onions.
I too had to get in one line, then go to another, only to get back in a line again. Get a replacement paper/form and wait in line again because one with white-out on it is unacceptable. Then have to go to the currency exchange to get something notarized, come back and sit in the line again, and then wind up going to the city clerks office after all of it, then ultimately to the currency exchange to buy a city sticker because the city clerks office line was unbearable and it looked like an old bank from a 1930’s John Dillinger documentary, i would rather pay extra just to leave.
Bureaucratic redundant mess of an institution. No wonder why they have those signs behind the desks saying “HIT A WORKER- 14 Years in Jail” (look for it next time, it’s there)
Elston? Diversey?
Where is this magical location?
As usual I’ve got a link to some comedy relating to the subject:
Department of Motor Vehicles - YouTube (it’s about 30 seconds in length)