DMV reforms improve service

COLUMBIA - There's a change in the air at the Department of Motor Vehicles, and customers are taking note.

Willie Jean Clement of Gaston brought her 16-year-old daughter, Shatara, to a DMV office Thursday so the teen could take her driver's permit test. The pair waited only about 15 minutes.

"It's not crowded. They're calling numbers faster," Clement said. "Everybody's friendly - that makes the wait more pleasant."

It's a marked difference from two years ago, when the agency came under fire after complaints about long lines and poor service.

Gov. Mark Sanford and DMV Director Marcia Adams announced new initiatives Thursday designed to create even more improvements at the agency.

In June, Sanford signed into law several reforms, including making the DMV a stand-alone agency instead of being a division of the Public Safety Department.

One of the pilot projects announced Thursday allows dealerships and salvage companies to register vehicles electronically through the DMV's computer system.

Adams said the program has been running for two weeks and that, already, 16 dealers have processed more than 500 title and registration transactions.

The DMV is working on a program that would allow county tax offices to issue license plates and registrations at the time property taxes are paid. Anderson, Clarendon, Dorchester and Georgetown counties have volunteered to pilot the program, Adams said.

If the program goes well, it likely will expand statewide, she said.

The agency also is expanding the number of branches where people can get commercial driver's licenses and began a pilot program this month that allows schools to administer the written test for beginner permits.

Adams says the agency hopes to implement in March a system to allow companies to submit insurance policy changes to the department electronically. DMV officials hope this will help decrease the number of uninsured drivers who go undetected and cut back on paperwork for insurance companies and drivers who change policies.

The agency also is developing more online transactions.

The new initiatives, along with reforms already in place, will continue to make the agency more efficient, Sanford said. The governor said the average wait time at a DMV office was 66 minutes in September 2002. That average time is now down to 15 minutes, he said.