The people who work there are generally nice. The DMV - however - is a beauracratic nightmare. It’s simply over complicated. Why must I register my car? A license and insruance should be all I need. I don’t register my shoes. I don’t register my computers. A car is no different. I understand having an authority which says “I own this vehicle”. But registering every year is basically just a waste of paper.
Why do we now need 2 forms proving residency to get a star on an ID in order to fly between states? Should the homeless not be allowed to fly?
Why do I need to fill out so much of it in person? I did everything I could online, but still they required me to pick up a packet of forms. Plus I had to retake my driver’s license test despite owning a valid license in my state. At this point, they should be able to - at least - fill out everything online. Hell, I should never have to go in person except in the case of taking a photo (which arguably is kind of dumb, but I can understand the security reasons for it).
The DMV has convoluted forms, much like taxes. Filling out their forms should be idiot proof. But I - an idiot - have made mistakes on multiple occasions.
After all the forms and all the verification, human error still makes it a crapshoot. Believe it or not, I had my birthday entered incorrectly on a license. I owned a valid driver’s license which lied about my month, day, and year of birth. At what point do we not just ask ourselves: what are we doing here?
And I have to pay for my license? That’s absurd. In many cases, licenses are required by the government. How many times have you heard an officer demand a license despite a person not driving a car at the time? If a cop demands it as proof of my ID, then the government should provide it free (what else are taxes for?) Not to mention the fact that voting laws are starting to come up requiring a license. A license which you can only get if you pass a test, have a proof of residence, and have cash to afford it. I am very against disenfranchising the homeless (or anyone who meets that criteria) from voting.
The DMV is just what most poorly funded and poorly designed government entities end up becoming: a barrier for access to things that should be easy to access.
I’ve traveled all over the world and seen many systems. I’ve lived in many states. America is king of the poorly designed system.
“…Why must I register my car? A license and insruance should be all I need. I don’t register my shoes. I don’t register my computers. A car is no different…”
You have a very legit question, and I too thought about this.
And I think the reason is just the same as registering your firearms - because in the end your car is a 4,000 lb killing machine.
Everything else you mentioned - I agree 100%
What? Where the hell do you need to register your firearms and where do you get the idea that registering a car is for safety? The reason you have to register your car is because that is the tax you are paying to support the public infrastructure that you are driving on. It has nothing to do with safety. And also the unholy alliance of private insurance and the legal requirement to pay a private entity.
In a word: underfunding. There are just far too few branches with far too few employees to effectively serve far too many people who don’t have the option of getting it done anywhere else.
This leads to long lines and angrily impatient clients, which is so stressful in the long run as to crush the spirits of even the most cheerily helpful and dedicated public servant.
All of it could EASILY be fixed by building more locations, expanding open hours, hiring more staff and letting people do some of the things themselves online, but politicians would rather spend your tax dollars on tax breaks for the rich and corporations.
Mother-in-law works at one. Under educated, under paid, not enough help, everyone is forced to go there and sees it as a watse of their time so the “guv’ment” can “steal” your hard earned money. At least in thd US.
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The why is by design. Politicians in the US’s first past the post voting system are there to enrich themselves. They enrich themselves by making sure that the people who paid for their campaign are getting the appropriate tax structure and subsidies they paid for. Because state level budgets are finite, anything that does not advance the goal of the donor’s is optional. In addition think tanks such as the heritage foundation, or the third way, or hundreds of others that are the same with different names, are on a mission to make sure that government is privatized. It’s a slow multi-decade process, but the post office, the TSA, security clearances etc etc are examples of their success.
It’s very easy to make government agency’s efficient, but making an efficient government means that a middleman doesn’t get paid, and thus in our hellish system, an efficient government cannot exist.
