Readers weigh in with most painful DMV stories

Legislators approved additional millions for the Department of Motor Vehicles budget to upgrade infrastructure, expand facilities and improve customer service.

From the sound of things, those changes can’t come too soon.

Following Sunday’s column on a lengthy and frustrating schlep through the DMV, I’ve received some jaw-dropping letters and emails from citizens whose experiences make mine seem like a day at the beach. (Yeah, pal, Omaha Beach.)

For many of you, the process of trying to remain a lawful driver has been a nightmare. How frustrated are you? Many of the responses I’ve received are hundreds of words long. Editing the misery down to a few morsels wasn’t easy. From older customers driven to distraction by changes in technology and stonewalling computer systems to drivers burdened by having to locate long-lost birth certificates to accommodate changes in the law, there was no shortage of complaints.

In fairness, there were readers who lauded the new system. Two of them, to be precise.

The rest were spitting mad, had no warm feelings for DMV Director Troy Dillard and were firing off letters far longer than the original column.

From Kathryn: “Thanks for the commentary which comes right after my letter to Mr. Dillard. Their response? A letter far longer than a DMV line with excuses and no solutions. I want to find out from the ground staff what their ideas are for an obviously broken system but no one will talk without permission. More staff is part of the problem, but it goes deeper.”

From Ada Marie: “All I can say is: At least you are not a high school student who has three unexcused absences! If you were, the principal would immediately confiscate your license (at the direction of the DMV … as mandated by state law.)”

From Alice, who swears she had always been a law-biding citizen until she failed to navigate the DMV’s bureaucratic maze: “I drove illegally for nine months until I knew it was time for my car to be registered. I couldn’t get help from the (local) DMV and had to call a department in Carson City.”

From 68-year-old Peggy: “As a new transplant from Long Island I got a good laugh out of your article. In NY we live in fear of the DMV but here it is worse, even if we have long lines.”

Tougher than the Big Apple, that’s us.

Although some elements seemed to work fine, she was alarmed by the burdensome identification process: “You would think I was applying for a job with the CIA or citizenship after working all my life since 16 and in the past 20 years at one place and just moving here I had no idea where the (Social Security) card was. … I also couldn’t believe how draconian the laws are. If you’re a day late with your insurance they fine you? … In a state that the minimum wage is now going to $9, registration for cars is high, why do they make it difficult for the everyday person who lives here working to support their families?”

From Tony, after describing a particularly arduous ordeal: “As I concluded my business, some six hours or more after I began, the realization came to me: the DMV’s systems are not an anomaly, they are completely in line with the systems of other Nevada state government departments. The thing which our state bureaucracy and elected leaders are, in fact, totally consistent in is their awarding, supervision, implementation and execution of third-party information technology contracts.”

You know, he might be onto something.

In future months, the state will throw millions into the DMV’s system at several levels.

Will they rush to cough up the overtime and remain open on Sunday? Will they set up temporarily satellite offices in empty schools and community centers? Will they consider privatizing to increase efficiency?

Now look who’s dreaming.

John L. Smith’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Email him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0295. Find him on Twitter: @jlnevadasmith