Hot Fun in the Summertime

The other day at lunch time I ventured forth to the DMV to reregister my car. I figured: hey, it’s 100 degrees—perfect day for a walk. Plus, my registration had expired.

So I checked the handy website (www.dmv.dc.gov), which informed me I needed the following things: the registration renewal notice, proof of identity/address, and proof of insurance. I couldn’t find my insurance card, so I went through my files (i.e., the 8-inch stack of papers on my desk) and unearthed a copy of my current policy. Then I shuffled over to the DMV center at 301 C Street NW.

I walked veerrrry slowly, so as not to induce heatstroke. It was high noon and hot as hell. The air seemed shimmery—you know how it does that? Very few people were out and about. The streets were almost deserted—of pedestrians, that is. Plenty of people sailed by in their hermetically sealed vehicles.

I reached the DMV at 12:25 and was given the number H040. The place was packed but blissfully cool, and seats were still available. No one seemed especially happy to be there, but I can assure you that the wait times at the DC DMV have improved immeasurably since I moved here almost 18 years ago. (I spent almost an entire day there the first time I went to get a DC license.) They now have an automated number calling system, which displays the numbers and calls them out and which conceivably could help a person calculate how long she might have to wait. But it seems to call numbers almost completely at random. A077 was called to window 17 just after G045 was called to window 3. WTF?

I read my Washington Post (okay, it wasn’t mine, I borrowed it from my office) and waited for about 45 minutes. Then H040 was called to window 19. I went to the window, and the woman took my renewal form, clicked at her computer for a minute, asked me if I wanted to renew for 1 year or 2 (please, don’t make me do this again next year), and then took my credit card. I signed on the dotted line, she gave me my registration sticker, and that was that. Did she asked to see my ID or my proof of insurance? No, she did not.

All in all, not so bad. Of course, the REALLY painless way to reregister one’s car is to do it on-line. That, however, requires a bit of forethought: it has to be done at least 15 days before the vehicle registration expires. I leave it to you to imagine the likelihood that I’ll ever pull THAT off.