Holly Miller did not procrastinate when it came time to renew her driver’s license.

But, on Friday, she said, she might have been better off waiting a few days.

On Wednesday the state will begin issuing licenses good for 10 years at a cost of $25. Licenses have been renewed every five years at $12.50.

As Miller waited for her photograph for her new five-year license at the Department of Motor Vehicles branch on Shop Road, she said she liked the idea of a longer-term driver’s license.

“If it streamlines the process and saves us money, then, yes,” said Miller, 46, of Columbia. She said she probably would have gotten a 10-year license, instead of the five-year version.

State officials say renewing licenses every 10 years, compared to five years, will be convenient for customers and will make it easier to do business at the DMV branches.

The longer-term licenses are available only at motor vehicle offices for drivers under 65 who have either a Class G moped license, a Class D passenger vehicle license, a Class M motorcycle license or a combination of the car and motorcycle license.

Georgia requires license renewals every four years, and North Carolina is phasing in a five-year license-renewal program.

The 10-year license is one of the changes under the motor vehicles reform act Gov. Mark Sanford signed in June.

Some drivers at the motor vehicles office wondered if the 10-year term might be too long, given how much a person’s eyesight can change.

“Your eyesight does go with age,” said Julie Jackson, 24, of Columbia, who was in line to get her license after recently moving to South Carolina.

Jackson, who has worked in an optometrist’s office, said she knows how quickly vision can change.

Motor vehicles department officials say the license will not compromise safety.

Licensed drivers must take a vision test, either at the motor vehicles department or with an eye doctor, during the fifth year of the renewal period, said Marcia Adams, the department’s acting executive director.

The $25 cost of the 10-year licenses didn’t matter to most people in line, mostly, they said, because it simply doubles the fee for a five-year license.

State officials did not know how much money the 10-year license program could save the state, said Beth Parks, acting department spokeswoman.

Parks said the best thing about the new license is that drivers will spend less time at DMV offices. One of the biggest complaints the department has received over the years has been about waiting times.

Several people in line to renew their licenses Friday agreed the new option was a good thing.

“I guess it’s going to cut back on the paperwork, because you don’t have to come in here,” said J.D. Reyes, 45, of Columbia.

Parks said the department has already shaved time off the wait at branch offices because of Sanford’s efforts to reform the department.

“It’s gone from an hour and a half in line statewide last summer to 15 to 20 minutes this summer,” she said. “From one summer to the next, that’s pretty good.”

Reach Gonzales at (803) 771-8405 or jgonzales@thestate.com.