You’ll pay more to stand in line at the DMV

By Jay Warren
WSLS10 Anchor
Published: July 2, 2008

It’s a chore that would have to rank up there with a root canal or paying taxes: standing in line at the DMV. And now you will have to pay even more to do it!

That’s right. Standing in line for vehicle registration will cost you and extra $5 thanks to a new law passed by the General Assembly.

Delegate Onzlee Ware voted for it.

WARREN: “What were you all thinking?”

WARE: “This is what I thought of it, it gives you four other ways to avoid that fee.”

In fact, the point is to keep people away from the DMV offices. It boils down to this: the fewer the people, the shorter the lines.

“We are trying to keep the DMV streamlined and efficient,” Ware said.

So, the DMV wants you to register online, over the phone, or through the mail. And, if you do it online you’ll get a dollar off the registration fee.

But still, charging taxpayers extra money to complete a task it requires in an office our taxes pay for is frustrating to many.

One man at the DMV in Roanoke summed it up best, saying “They ought to give you five dollars to wait. To me that’s foolish.”

WARREN: “They look at this and say come on, is it worth another five dollars?”

WARE: “Well, you don’t have to get to the five dollar fee if you do the four things that avoid it.”

The fourth way to pay while avoiding the $5 dollar fee is to visit a DMV satellite office. There are six in our area including Radford, Lynchburg, Amherst, Appomattox, Charlotte Courthouse, and Chatham.