Dread going to the DMV

By Bobby Tuggle

My Georgia Drivers License is due for renewal in December. I am almost afraid for the date to come because of the horror stories of the difficulties some people are having getting their license renewed.

My sister is one example of this. I asked her to write a brief history of the difficulties that she has experienced and still has not gotten a license.

She was born in Perry on May 12, 1931, and has never lived more than one mile from the house where she was born. She attended the Perry schools from the first grade until graduation in 1949. (Diploma is useless for identification).

She has been a member of the Perry United Methodist Church from birth to December 2003. (Church records and family Bible that goes back to the 1800s useless for identification).

She has lived in same house on Hillcrest Avenue for 54 years.

Her biggest problem was that she did not have a birth certificate. She knew in 2009 that she had to have a birth certificate in order to obtain her license. Many people born in small towns in the 1920s and 1930s do not have birth certificates. She has asked her attorney to help her get a delayed birth certificate and he has written many letters to no avail.

She has an affidavit that her Mother and the wife of the doctor who delivered her swore to the date of her birth before the Ordinary at the Houston County Court House in 1949. This is not acceptable as proof of birth.

She spent two and a half hours at the State Patrol office last week, had to go home and look for proof that she lived and go back to sit for two hours longer. Still no license. After dealing with a very impolite license examiner at the Perry State Patrol office, she decided to go to the Warner Robins office to try to get her license. She had learned that she could get a temporary license.

After sitting in the Warner Robins office for an hour, they sent her to the Social Security office, where she had another long wait. An hour later the Social Security office told her that the document her lawyer had received from the Social Security office was the one that the license office was requesting.

Back she went to the license driver’s license office and another long wait. The license examiner disagreed with the Social Security office, saying that it had to be on paper which contained the Social Security letterhead.

They finally agreed to give her a four-month temporary license to use while she attempted to get a birth certificate. She did state that the Warner Robins office was very kind and patient with her, unlike the examiner at the Perry office.

This is only one of the horror stories that I have heard from people attempting to get a drivers license renewal. One friend was told that she had to have her husband’s Social Security number in order to get her license.

I wonder how all of the illegal aliens (excuse me, that should be guest workers) and Islamic terrorists in our country that are driving get their licenses. Must be easier for them to get one than for a lifetime resident.
HHJ News