Reopening DMV offices testing plexiglass barriers against virus

Q DMV offices are opening. However, employees and customers are not being protected. Retail establishments and banks are protecting their employees and customers by installing acrylic shields. Not at the DMV. We have only face masks and optional face shields. Customers come up directly to the counter. If they stood 6 feet away, we wouldn’t be able to hear them and protect their privacy. We need acrylic shields installed on the counters. — Clarice Cutino A Yes, you do, and they are coming. The DMV has two offices testing plexiglass barriers. No word on when more will be installed, but the opening last week of 46 additional offices puts pressure to get this done soon. In all offices, employee protections include masks, face shields, gloves, hand sanitizer, disinfectants and physical distancing. Customers are required to wear a face covering, and only a certain number of people are allowed in the offices at any time to enforce physical distancing. Here are some offices now open: Concord, Daly City, Fairfield, Fremont, Newhall, Oakland Coliseum and Oakland Claremont, Pittsburg, Pleasanton, Sacramento, the Senter office in San Jose, Santa Rosa, Stockton, San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Salinas, South Lake Tahoe, South Sacramento, Tracy and Turlock. Offices are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays (from9a.m.to5p.m.on Wednesdays). Q I’m hoping you can answer another question about Real IDS. Long ago (in a galaxy far far away), I got a divorce. When I told my attorney I wanted to change my name to my mother’s maiden name, rather than back to my maiden name, he told me how to do it without filing a legal name change to save money. I since have remarried and took my husband’s last name. So now when I go to the DMV with my birth certificate, I’ll bring my marriage certificate showing my current last name. But it’ll show my name before my marriage with a last name that has no name change documentation. It does, however, show my birth name as well as my mother’s maiden name. Do you think I can explain it to them? Everything I’ve read states that you must have paper documentation for every name change. — Sue K. A When applying for a Real ID, if the full name on your identity document does not match your current true full name, additional documentation is required. However, many people opt to apply for a Real ID by using their U.S. passport because, typically, they already have provided documentation to use the name they use today. Absent the U.S. passport, you would have to petition a court for a legal name change.

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