Some of the rules at the DMV are just crazy

I read with sympathy the Wednesday letter to the Review-Journal from Joe Roeder about his ordeal at the DMV involving the Real ID. Some of the rules that Homeland Security is instituting are ridiculous.

I went in July to renew my driver’s license. For the 16 years I have lived here, I have always used my P.O. Box number on my license. That’s because if I ever lost it, I wouldn’t want someone who found it to trace it back to my home address.

During this last visit, I was told that I could no longer use my box number on the license itself. It had to be my actual street address. They did let me keep my box number in their records as my mailing address. This change accomplishes nothing. Although they required two items of proof (mail/bills) to verify my physical address, I could have moved the day after my visit and left no forwarding address with the post office, making that address worthless.

Then I went to have my picture taken. I wear glasses, but I was not allowed to keep them on for my picture this time. I had to sign my signature on an electronic pad, and that is what appears on the license. I tried two times to write a legible signature on the pad. The lady said to try a third time. In frustration, I just scribbled some chicken scratches on the pad and walked to the wall for my picture. She accepted the chicken scratches and that is what I now have on my license. There is no way I could ever use that signature to be compared to my real signature for verification. What was wrong with using the signature I wrote on the application paper, as before?

So much for “homeland security.”