Florida DMV: Adapt to protect jobs, right to vote

COVID-19 has forced all businesses and establishments to adapt if there is any hope of survival. From online alternatives to curbside delivery, adaptation has been the guiding force to try to save businesses and jobs. Even many governmental services have had to adapt to maintain basic services. Unfortunately, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is falling short of the adaptation mission and the consequences are not just a matter of inconvenience for our residents. Our economic vitality and even our right to vote demands immediate DMV adaptation.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Sunrise partnered with the DMV to offer monthly Florida Licensing on Wheels (FLOW) services at our senior center. The services provided by FLOW are essentially the same services that can be accessed through the Florida DMV website, such as renewing a driver’s license (some, not all, can be renewed online), replacing a driver’s license, changing a name or renewing a vehicle registration. Using the mobile FLOW unit is convenient for some who are unable to use a computer or who lack internet access.

With COVID, the DMV is able to continue these FLOW services, albeit limited in scope, but is requiring cities to provide everything from scheduling of appointments to temperature checks to crowd control. Clearly, the DMV is one organization not prepared for a pandemic or how to adapt, even six months into the crisis.

In fact, the routine DMV operation is currently offering a limited number of appointments on a daily basis. These appointments are only scheduled two weeks in advance. Good luck getting an appointment — residents needing services have to check the website at midnight each day to see if they are lucky enough to secure one.

It is entirely foreseeable that the demand would be extremely high for new driver’s license exams, driving tests and ID cards, which cannot be performed or obtained using the FLOW mobile service or online. Simply put, these are essential governmental services with real consequences if not obtainable.

For example, DMV operations impact our right to vote. A driver’s license or Florida ID card is required to register to vote. In addition, many people register to vote in DMV offices. Adapting DMV operations is absolutely critical to the upcoming elections in November.

The economic consequences are also very real because a driver’s license or ID card is required to apply for jobs. With parents losing jobs or otherwise unable to work because of COVID-19, many high school students want to be able to assist with household expenses. They need a driver’s license to apply for jobs to follow their dreams or just put some money in their pockets. Not only do they need the license or ID card to apply, with a public transportation system that is years, if not decades, from being able to provide convenient service across the entire county, the ability to drive to a job is the life-blood for most households.

For those negatively impacted by COVID-19, a valid driver’s license or ID card is required to apply for unemployment benefits. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the unemployment rate in the state of Florida for July was 11.3%. That is approximately 1,125,000 Florida residents that were out of work, and many of them need to apply for benefits.

Sadly, given the reduced services from DMV in Broward County, we know residents are desperately driving to other counties to try to get the necessary DMV services where more appointments may be available. In response to this predictable effort of our residents to obtain a critical government function, other counties are now shockingly restricting inperson service to those who reside in that county, despite it being a “state” service.

To adapt, at a minimum, the DMV should immediately open offices seven days a week; expand the hours to include early mornings and evenings; expand FLOW mobile services to include the driver exams and driving tests; and open satellite locations to ensure social distancing and crowd control.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced organizations to rethink their operations and to find innovative and compassionate solutions to continue to provide critical services to those in need. It is beyond time that the DMV, for whom there is no competition, consider alternative business models to meet the immediate and ongoing needs of the community, now and into the future. Our economic vitality and our right to vote hang in the balance.