Letter to Governor Abbot

To:
Greg Abbot
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428

CC:
Stephen C. McCraw, David G. Baker & Robert J. Bodisch
Texas Department of Public Safety
PO Box 4087
Austin, TX, 78773-0001

Dear Governor Abbot:

The day before yesterday I went online to change the address on my driver’s license and got a message saying that I needed to update my browser first. That surprised me because I always update my software just as soon as I am informed that a software update is available. None the less, I checked for a new software update. Just as I thought, I already had the latest version and no software update was available. So I went back to the DPS website and tried again to change my address, to no avail. I continued getting the same message telling me I need to update my browser.

Day two of attempting to update the address on my driver’s license, I got in my car and drove to the driver’s license office on North Lamar. It was closed. There was a sign on the door saying the office would re-open in ten days, and everybody should go to a temporary office until then. I got back in my car, drove to the temporary office, went in, and explained that I needed to change the address on my driver’s license. She told me to do it online. I explained that I couldn’t. She said they cannot change addresses at the temporary office, and I would have to go elsewhere. I got back in my car and drove to Cedar Park. They said they could not change the address for me unless I waited in line and had my picture made again, even though my license is not expired nor due to expire any time soon. My hair was a mess. I did not wish to wait in that long line for an undetermined amount of time, have my picture made again, and buy a whole new drivers license, and battle the rush hour traffic to get home, when all I needed was to update the address. So I gave up for the day and went home.

On day three of attempting to change the address on my driver’s license, I got up early in the morning, styled my hair, and battled the morning rush hour traffic in hopes of beating the crowd so I wouldn’t have to wait in line for so long. When I arrived they told me the system was down. I ran an errand, came back, waited in line, had my picture made, and got a new driver’s license. It took me three days to change the address on my driver’s license. This is beyond ridiculous. It is obnoxious and disgusting.

As much money as the government takes from people for licenses, taxes, registrations, and traffic fines, it ought to be able to hire a good webmaster to keep it’s website in working order. And they ought to be able to simply change your address if you go in person, instead of making you wait in line and have your picture taken. How are people going to find the time to work and pay taxes if it takes three days of dealing with inefficient government bureaucracy to change the address on their driver’s license? Is that why the state of texas has resorted to policing for profits instead of protections via high way robbery? If the government can’t do any better, it needs to shut down.

I still remember how shocked and dismayed I was at how long it took me to get my first driver’s license 40 years ago. And it has just gotten worse. This is unacceptable. It is beyond unacceptable. It is ridiculous, rude, inconsiderate and obnoxious. If it takes any longer than five minutes to wait in line and renew your driver’s license, the government has no business requiring people to buy one. It is amazing to me that we the people have put up with this for so long. And I have had enough. This needs to be fixed.

If the information I found online is correct, the department of public safety has a director and two deputy directors. All of them are men. If those three men cannot get the department running more efficiently, I suggest you fire them all and hire a woman. And I think they should give back some of the money they have already been getting paid if they would like to keep their jobs and try. The department is unsustainable as it is. It has to be changed. Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter.


Sincerely,

GLM
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