Insane Reverse-Privatization at the Arizona DMV

Arizona has always had a pretty intelligent rule that driving schools that have been certified by the state can actually give kids their written and driving tests.    They get a certificate they take to the DMV where they then get issued the physical license.   Kids who can't afford the school can certainly go into the DMV to take the tests, but since our DMV is swamped with insane waits, it is nice to have an alternative.

Until now.  Apparently, for reasons that entirely escape me except perhaps to pander to state employees' unions, all kids must now take their tests, written and driving, at the DMV.  So, the DMV's solution to insane waits is to... increase demand on their services.  Awesome.  Sounds eerily similar to Obamacare's solution to ER waits.

10 Comments

  1. obloodyhell:

    }}}} Sounds eerily similar to Obamacare's solution to ER waits

    Increased taxes on the rich 50%?

  2. James:

    In AZ, it's MVD (motor vehicle division of ADOT), but that aside, they probably found that some schools didn't force the students to parallel park. There are soooo many places around this urban metropolis of the greater Phoenix area where you have to parallel park.....oh, maybe I'm thinking of San Francisco or New York City. Anyway, I'm so happy that most stuff can be done online now, but with the backsliding of the testing requirements I wonder what's next.

  3. mark2:

    How many different ways can you name a Motor Vehicle department.
    MVD is new to me. Seen DMV in CA and DOT in Iowa.

  4. Brian Jones:

    Call me paranoid, but I've wondered if these regulations, with their utterly predictable impact of making people's lives miserable who are attempting to obtain a license (which serves as ID) is a remote-control swipe at Voter ID laws. "I'll teach *you* to say it's easy to get ID, racist!"

  5. Don:

    "you can't professionalize until you federalize"

    Or, something like that...

    Besides, those schools are just icky! They do it for MONEY. YUCK!

  6. Don:

    Well, it USED to be the DPS here in Texas (the State police force) that did this, but they lost it to the DMV when that was created a couple of years ago to take over licensing and registration from the DOT.

    Makes things SO much more simple and efficient. ;^)

  7. obloodyhell:

    "The civil servant waits while the DMV masturbates..."

    Yeah, that version works, too.

  8. Rick C:

    IT's RMV, Registry of Motor Vehicles, in MA.

  9. James:

    You can also get an ID that isn't a license, just a state-issued ID card. Just need to wait in that line over there.... They have a clever system also so that you really can't tell how long your wait will be. You get a number like C322, and they use letters from A-G or something. They'll call A33, F577, A34, G442, on and on, so if the latest "C" number called is C320 you may still have a long wait. The letters are related to the type of transaction, and each service window only handles certain transaction types.

  10. markm:

    In Michigan it's the Secretary of State's office. The SOS is an elected official, with some other duties, but the vehicle and driver's licenses are the one 90% of voters deal with - and for at least 40 years, the SOS offices have been the least screwed up government agencies that I have ever dealt with. (And this includes getting cars licensed in three other states.) Apparently it *is* possible to make bureaucracies more responsive to the public, if someone has enough authority and their job depends on it.