A Fiasco

PJ Martin

Editor

The Herald-News

 

I am not entirely sure who the ‘genius’ was that came up with the idea to move all driver’s license facilities to regional offices, but it’s a total fiasco.

Recently, I needed to renew my driver’s license, so I went to the website www.driveky.gov  to see where the closest location would be. I found either Bowling Green or Columbia, I chose Columbia, and then proceeded to schedule an appointment.

I rarely go near Columbia, so I had no idea where the office was located and decided to use my iPhone for directions. I should have known better because it took me back streets instead of the main street.

You would expect a driver’s license office to be in a government building on the main street or at least in view of the main thoroughfare, but no, this office was in an out of the way spot on a back street, with less than adequate signage.

The GPS told me to turn onto the street and that I was at my destination, but to all appearances, I was in the back parking lot of another business. The street was not marked or separated from that business’ parking lot nor the adjoining business’s parking lot. My husband just happened to see the small sign on the side of the building.

I can’t imagine being an elderly person trying to locate that office. We should not have to travel to another county to renew anything.

Once there the employees were very helpful and when I mentioned how hard it was to find their location, they agreed that the building needed larger signs. A lot of people had mentioned how hard it was to locate.

Aside from traveling to another county to renew my license, the process required a lot of documentation to prove my identity, plus I had to remove my glasses for the photo. I asked why and the lady helping me explained that the photo would be used for facial recognition. I was getting the Real ID which can be used at airports, so I assume that is somehow connected to homeland security use. In this day and time, you can’t be too careful.

Other than all the documentation and special photo, I saw nothing in that office that could not be located in every county in Kentucky. At least if it were in each county, it would likely be in a government building where everyone would be able to find it more easily.

One other item struck me as peculiar, they didn’t accept cash or check payments. There were multiple signs stating that only debit and credit cards were accepted. The receptionist even asked me if I was using a debit or credit card to renew. There are a lot of people who still do not use anything other than cash and checks.

The fact that the state and federal governments are taking things away from the counties and the people in them, is alarming. It starts small and eventually you wake up one day and most of your county, city, and state run systems are all managed by federal authority. I can’t help but wonder if this is the tip of an iceberg in the distance.