Yesterday I went to change the address on my car’s registration to my new Berkeley address. I needed to get it on record because the city of Berkeley requires residents to have their motor vehicle registered at their Berkeley address before a parking permit can be bought. Why I should have to buy a parking permit to park in front of my house and the deal with the whole city bureaucracy is another story for another day.

To the city’s credit, a person I talked to over the phone told me I could change my address at a AAA office if I was a member instead of the local DMV. Being a member I decided to try this. I went to AAA’s Long Beach location, where I had no trouble finding parking. The office was nice and I waited about three minutes to be seen by a receptionist. After I explained my situation, she gave me the proper DMV address change form and told me to fill it out until a representative was available. Before I finished a second form I was called by name to one of the stations. I explained my situation to the representative and she gave me another DMV form to fill out and explained how she would process it to ensure it would get changed correctly. She then proceeded to print out a copy of my new registration for only the mandatory DMV fee of $16. The kind representative even made copies of the forms for my personal records. I was out as fast as I came in. The whole transaction took less then fifteen minutes. It was the late afternoon, so people were streaming in and out pretty fast. Compare this to my last trip to the DMV. I drove around the parking lot once or twice to find a spot that was freshly vacated. I then waited at least ten minutes in line to be seen and get a number to talk to an employee who would actually help me. I then waited for a good long time; about two hours the last time I was there.

Based on my experience, I would choose AAA over the DMV any day. Even my AAA card is a tad bit studier then my driver’s license. This is a great example of how a private company can do something far better then a government bureaucracy. I call for the DMV to be demolished to a computer server that keeps records. The established companies that handle insurance and other driving services can provide the entire customer service aspect. Prices will be lower and service will be higher when the functions of the DMV are provided for by businesses.

This will save taxpayers millions. The state will no longer have to maintain a huge bureaucracy which is notorious for its poor customer service. It will also save everyone who would ever go to the DMV a lot of time and frustration.