Hate the DMV? New NC law could help many avoid lines with online services; 18,000 use new feature in 2 just weeks

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A new law in North Carolina is letting drivers skip visiting the DMV and renew their licenses online, cutting long lines and saving hours of wait time.

Since signing Senate Bill 245 into law on Sept. 30, Gov. Josh Stein (D) said more than 18,000 North Carolinians opted to renew their licenses online in the first two weeks.

“The bill is helping more people skip the trip to the DMV by allowing them to renew their license online instead of in person. And that, in turn, is shortening the lines for folks who have to visit,” he said.

“To put it in context, we serve about 8,000 people a day in all of our offices across the state. So that’s like having an entire extra day available to us each and every week,” said North Carolina DMV Commissioner Paul Tine.

This comes after the scathing auditor’s report in August, which slammed the DMV’s long lines and staff shortages.

“Our goal in the short term is to reduce demand by allowing more online transactions, increasing capacity by hiring frontline staff and driving process improvements,” Tine said.

But not everyone is aware of the online services. Cameron Bailey said he waited more than four hours to renew his license at the Central Services Office in Raleigh.

“I had no idea you could do that online,” Bailey said. “I feel like it can help, especially to help people get stuff done quicker, especially for coming in at a random time and saying, sorry we’re full.”

And some say even with the new law, the old problems are still there.

“If you go online to try and do it, you can’t do it online. It says you have to come into the office to get your license renewed,” said Vivian Morris. “This is the third day now trying to just get in. We’re not in COVID anymore. This is unnecessary.”

Tine acknowledged wait times remain a challenge, but they are working to streamline the process. They started taking walk-in clients over the summer and developed a “wait from anywhere” queue where people could watch their place in line from phone text link.

“When it’s almost your turn, we send you a message to invite you back into the office where you’ll have a short wait before you get service,” Tine said. “This is a much better experience than waiting in line outside of the office for an extended period of time exposed to the elements.”

Since the law passed, the DMV has filled 64 examiner positions, bringing the agency to 95% staffing across 632 positions. Training has also been condensed to get new hires into the field faster.

“We’re now on a path to clear a six-month training backlog and get all new hires contributing to the field within two weeks so they can serve the public while they continue to learn,” Tine said.

Stein said this is just the beginning. They just added REAL ID online renewals last week, and teen drivers will be able to upgrade their licenses online in two weeks.

“We know that we still have a very long way to go to make people’s DMV experience a smoother, speedier and less stressful. And we are going to keep at it,” he said.