If the mostly filled parking lot outside the
Leeds Avenue Department of Motor Vehicles office was an indicator, opening
on Saturday was a good idea.
One of only a handful of sites beginning six days of operation, the
Leeds Avenue DMV office drew drivers from throughout the Lowcountry.
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| MIC
SMITH/STAFF |
| Harold Caddell of Hollywood fills out
paperwork Saturday inside the North Charleston office of the
Department of Motor Vehicles. "Anything like this will help,"
Caddell said of the DMV opening Saturday. "This is really
great. A lot of people only have Saturdays off."
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If
the popularity of the weekend hours was a surprise, so were the relatively
short lines.
And the greeter was none other than the head of the department.
"I think most people have gotten used to the fact that they're going to
spend a little extra time here," said Harold Caddell, a Hollywood
resident. He said he has spent more than an hour waiting to be served in
the past.
On Saturday, he waited only about 25 minutes before his number was
called.
"I think it's a good effort on their part to please the public,"
Caddell said. "Maybe this will help."
"That'll cut some of the traffic down during the week," added Patrick
Thompson of Mount Pleasant, who tries to arrive before the midday crowd
during the weekdays because many people do their DMV business during their
lunch break.
Some residents, such as Alfred Okeka of Sumter, once planned to miss
work altogether to make a trip to the DMV.
"I had to take a long day off," said Okeka on Friday.
Originally from Nigeria, Okeka visited the Leeds Avenue office with his
parents, who are permanent residents, to address specific citizenship
issues.
Saturday openings let him visit the DMV without having to take a day
off from work.
The openings are just one of several major changes resulting from a
bill Gov. Mark Sanford signed Thursday making the division of the Public
Safety Department a stand-alone agency that answers to his office.
According to Marcia Adams, whom Sanford recently appointed as the DMV's
acting director, the change is beneficial.
"It allows us to have a focus. We're really excited about it," she
said.
Reporting directly to the governor's office also ensures accountability
as the agency strives for better customer service, said Adams, an Irmo
resident who traveled to the Lowcountry Saturday to greet drivers at the
North Charleston office.The greeter and Saturday office hours aren't the
only changes in the works. The new law also allows drivers to get tag
renewal stickers and registrations from county treasurers' offices or
private businesses that could charge a service fee above the state's
standard $24.
License expiration dates also will be extended from five to 10 years
for most drivers.
The agency also can contract with public and private entities to give
driving tests.
Also, drivers soon may avoid visiting the DMV altogether as the
department offers more services online. The agency's current Web site is
www.scdps.org.
On Monday, driving records can be accessed online, said DMV spokesman
Sid Gaulden; and by June 30, drivers should be able to renew their license
online, waiving the vision test given to those who visit the office, said
Adams. Fee payments and other transactions would also be made available.
Offices in Aiken, Florence, Greenville, Irmo and Rock Hill also opened
from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday. These six offices open each Saturday
through August, except July 5 and Aug. 30.
"We're trying to see how well it's going to work," Gaulden said, DMV
spokesman. "The need is there to somehow get the public out of the office
during the week." he said.
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