The Lane Ranger: Waits for licenses drive Georgians to distraction
Joey Ledford - Staff
Friday, October 13, 2000

It's often said that it's too easy to get a driver's license in Georgia, but you'd best not say that in front of Sue Stoudemire or her 16-year-old son Will.

Passing the so-called road test, which involves little more than tooling around in a parking lot, dodging a few cones and parallel parking, isn't that tough. But getting into position to climb into the car and take the test proved to be a monumental obstacle for Will Stoudemire, a Pace Academy student, as it is for scores of other Georgians.

"In all, we waited in lines nearly 20 hours, not to mention the additional time --- approximately four hours --- spent commuting to and from the licensing centers," said the northwest Atlanta mother. "I was miserable," she added. "We were ready to kill somebody."

The quest began back on July 7 when mother and son went to the Moreland Avenue licensing station about 1:30 p.m. Closing time arrived at 4:30 before Will had made the front of the line.

They returned the next morning at 9 a.m. when the center opens only to find a long line already formed. "We waited until 4:30, and again were unsuccessful," said Sue.

"What amazed me more than the unbelievable inefficiency and cruelty of the system was the seeming patience of those in line," she said in a letter to Public Safety Commissioner Bob Hightower, which she shared with the Lane Ranger. "There was no screaming, no ranting, no raving."

Advised that day that there should be no line at the Canton station, the two made that their destination for Day 3, which came the next week.

That day, they arrived in Canton at 2 p.m., and waited again through the 4:30 p.m. closing.

"Again, there was one single officer conducting the driving tests," said Sue.

Day 4 began bright and early at 7:20 a.m., hours before the opening of the Loehmann's Plaza office on Roswell Road.

"This time, we were determined not to leave without a license," said Sue, even though the line already was a block long two hours before the center opened. Will finally had his license about 1:45 p.m.

"We learned that Saturdays are the worst," said Sue. "Most hardworking Georgians, however, have no alternative. They do not have the luxury of taking off time during the week."

Noting that Will had taken driver's education, she suggested that driver's ed teachers be certified to give the tests, which could help free up examiners.

Lt. Col. Johnny Grimes, who heads the Department of Public Safety's driver license division, hears complaints about long waits almost daily, though he said 20 hours over four days may be a record.

"Give us the money and personnel," he said. "That's been a lifelong problem over here."

He said the department currently has 28 vacancies for license examiners and finds it difficult to impossible to retain employees, as beginning examiners make about $18,000 a year, with some metro area staffers topping out at $20,000. "I understand you can make that at some fast-food places," he said.

Public Safety has found it impossible to establish an appointment system, said Grimes, because of the high volume of applicants it must serve. It goes without saying that Georgia can't toughen its frighteningly easy driver's test when citizens like Will spend 20 hours waiting for the relatively short current version.

Grimes' best advice for metro motorists is to choose one of the 20 Kroger locations for routine license renewals. "You can make pretty good time there," he said.

The nine full service stations typically are packed, especially those in Lawrenceville, Sandy Springs or in Atlanta on Moreland Avenue, he said.

Public Safety continues to study the possibility of issuing renewals via the Internet or at kiosks, but "our concerns involve security" of that kind of transaction, said Grimes.

"Don't think we're dragging our feet over here," he said. "We hate getting these letters like anyone else, or answering the phone and getting these horror stories.

"We need more facilities, we need more personnel, we need some funding," he said.

Grimes is so desperate for workers, in fact, that he asked that we print the Department of Public Safety personnel office's phone number: 404-624-7550.

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