Students grapple with DMV as lack of appointments creates stress

The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is known more for its head-splitting wait times and inconvenience than anything else. At just the mention of the DMV, just about everyone in a room would let out a groan, flashing back to their hours wasted. The struggle even transcends into kids’ media, with the DMV in the Disney movie “Zootopia” being staffed entirely by sloths.

High school students are in the unique position to shoulder more of the burden due to the state’s graduated license program which requires four appointments while teens are in high school. Finally, the state government is addressing the DMV’s problems which should alleviate some of the headache for students.

The North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek announced that he’s looking into the DMV’s technology, functions and spending with the goal of significantly raising its operational efficiency. He plans to release multiple reports and compile them into an anthology with recommendations for the department and lawmakers.

Lawmakers filed a bill on April 8 to allow people to continue driving with an expired license for up to two years. The bill was filed with the express intention of reducing DMV business and increasing appointment availability. However, on Wednesday, April 9, the House Transportation Committee signed off on two bills that further swamp the DMV with work. One is for car accident responses and acknowledgement, and the other aims to reduce drunk driving. The DMV is required to compile all of the necessary data and comply with the new rules. 

The commissioner of North Carolina’s DMV, Wayne Goodwin, announced on Feb. 26 that he would be stepping down from the position, contrary to what he said a month prior, that he was going to fight to stay in the job. Goodwin will remain in the position as commissioner until his contract expires.

Remote DMV appointments was one thing Commissioner Goodwin pushed for during the COVID-19 lockdown. During his time, he’s hired 400 employees and brought down the department’s high number of open positions. He’s opened some offices on Saturdays, pushed for digital drivers licenses and self-service kiosks in grocery stores to handle minor DMV tasks without needing to go to an actual office. During his tenure, however, people haven’t noticed much of a change in the DMV’s day-to-day operations. 

Stress at the DMV has also been compounded by the REAL ID Act. The federal act was passed in 2005, and will take full effect on May 7, 2025. The spark for the act’s passing was the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It requires all adults to have a valid REAL ID, U.S. passport, or other federally recognized verification to board any commercial flights or enter any federally secure buildings.

High school students and their parents seem to get an unfair share the stress since they are required to have at least four separate appointments while in school.

“I went to the DMV to get my permit a year ago, and I went really early in the morning. They turned me away because I was missing my social security card. The second time I went, it was freezing outside, and I couldn’t get it because I was missing my school ID. I didn’t even need it,” said sophomore Molly Moody.  

The DMV has steep requirements just to get a learner’s permit, and the ability to get one seems dependent on the worker one has.

“I think they could improve with better customer service and more indoor seating,” Moody said.

Everyone has stories of getting to the DMV even before sunrise to wait for hours. In the colder months, this can be dangerous. With all of the digitalization of the world, such as remote learning, working from home and virtual doctors appointments, virtual DMV appointments don’t seem out of the realm of expectations. However, there are still complaints about its website including inconsistencies between the rules in person and online.

“The website allows people to make appointments at 4 p.m. for the driving portion of the test, but in order to do that portion you need more than an hour. Three times that I went to the DMV, people came in for their 4 p.m. appointments for the driving test and were turned away. This leaves people outraged at the employees who can’t control what the website is allowing,” said junior Stephany Ortiz.

The DMV’s website allows simple scheduling conflicts with no acknowledgement. Employees don’t have time to fix such mistakes, and they cannot prevent them as they have no power over the website.

“They often are outdated, slow and not clear on the requirements needed to get certain things. Part of the problem is technology being slow, outdated and not working. There also needed to be more employees so that more people can be seen at a time. They can attract people by raising the amount employees are paid and providing extra benefits. Will this be costly? Yes, but the DMV is providing documentation people literally can’t go without,” said sophomore Addison White.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has about $5 billion dollars to allocate accordingly per year. Federal funding appropriated by Congress makes up about 25 percent of that yearly budget. The DMV relies mostly on fees that it creates on its own; however, the DMV currently does not run smoothly or quickly enough to maximize the amount of the fees collected. Simply increasing DMV efficiency using federal taxes would both increase the amount of money on hand and appease the angry citizens.

“Getting an appointment is almost impossible to the point you have to make one three months in advance, and that’s if they have availability, which they often don’t. If you try to walk in, it’s a 90 percent chance you won’t get in, meaning you’ve just spent probably your whole day waiting just to be turned away. The worst part is that the employees at the DMV are overtly mean to people,” said senior Jordan Enwereuzor.

Even DMV offices miles away lack availability, including those in underpopulated parts of the state. Employees are accused of being not only purposely slow, but mean as well. This is exceedingly worrying considering employees are not required to serve any certain amount of people per day. 

Employees have been allowed to get away with disrespect because people know there’s nothing else they can do. Not having the documentation required by the DMV makes it just about impossible to do anything, and not being able to drive makes everything twice as hard since students are required to bring a parent or guardian with them to almost all appointments.

In North Carolina, the legislature caps the amount of permanent DMV employees at 568 for all of its offices across the state. However, the agency says it needs at least 629 employees to staff the 117 offices statewide. With North Carolina’s estimated population of 11.05 million people, this leaves an average of 94,440 people per office. Furthermore, the average annual salary of a DMV employee is around $36,000, with an hourly rate of $17. Dual employment is not allowed as a DMV employee, meaning they’re working stressful, understaffed jobs that pay similarly to part-time, without the ability to work a second job. Living on a $36,000 salary is unrealistic in today’s economy, especially with families.

The DMV is known country-wide for its shortcomings. People have problems with the employees and the offices in general, but the employees are overworked and underpaid. The DMV is expected to raise most of its budget itself and doesn’t procure enough funding on its own. It’s understaffed and desperately in need of a revamp. With the stress of finding a new commissioner as well, the North Carolina Department of Transportation and DMV are in for more uncertainty until the federal Department of Transportation can address the issues.