Should the DMV be totally restructured?

If you think that’s bad, try getting your license back after it’s been suspended.

We’ve been to the DMV no less than eight times. Every time we show up, we are told something different. It’s actually gotten to the point that we’re looking up the statutes ourselves and telling them what the law says. It doesn’t help that the DMV is above the courts and can make up their own rules – with or without notice. I also have a serious problem with their constant rate-hikes, as well. We’re like fish in a barrel – you can’t just say “Well, I’ll get my license from someone else”, you know?

One thing I’ve learned moving around with my husband’s career is that it is different in each state. Some states have one DMV that does it all, while others have separate places for each thing (licenses, titles/registration, inspections, etc.). I really miss the way Delaware was set up. You got everything done in one location.

I agree that they could do a bit more for license renewals, but I think it’s hard for them to say who can and can’t get a license. If someone has a medical condition that restricts their driving abilities, the DMV would need proof of that from their doctor. Perhaps the answer would be that you have to pass a medical physical each time your license is up for renewal and take a form from your doctor saying that you are medically clear to drive for the next few years.

Yes, the system certainly could use some reform but I seriously doubt anything much will ever change. First, as @Seaofclouds mentions, it is a State issue. Secondly, people, at least Americans, tend to see driving as a God-given right, not a privilege. About 40,000 die on American roads every year and countless others are maimed and injured. That really hasn’t gotten people’s attention so far. If 40,000 Americans were killed in terrorist attacks every year you bet people would be up in arms, marching in the streets, demanding that something be done, but 40,000 a year dead on the roads? Just the cost of doing business.

Maybe your mother’s Alzheimer’s disease wasn’t so obvious to the clerk.

My question is, why in the world would you sister, who surely must have been aware of her condition, take her in to get her license renewed?

@Seaofclouds

The only problem with that would be the liability of the doctors. If someone is cleared for driving, then kills three people by merging into them, it could be considered the doctor’s fault for not recognizing the driver’s lack of peripheral vision. If you think health care is expensive now, just wait until 1–800-caraccidentlawyer gets their hands on the doc’s malpractice insurance.

@Seek_Kolinahr

Very true. I was just thinking about doctor’s doing it because they already can keep someone from getting their license. People are already sue happy though, so I definitely can see what you are saying happening.