Like many teens during this strange time, I have been waiting to get my license. All across the U.S., the DMV has been closed since the number of cases started escalating at an alarming rate. Like me, a lot of teens had to deal with their tests being postponed, ruining their plans of driving this summer. Luckily in many locations, the DMV has finally started to open up, but there are quite a few adjustments.
1. Scheduling Appointments
At the DMV I was scheduled to go to, appointments were already backed up for months even before the pandemic started affecting our lives. Since March, the DMV was not allowing new appointments to be made. While it opened up for most cases, driving-hopefuls faced the worst delays because of the controversy over the best ways to protect the tester and the testee.
For now, the people that have been waiting for the past 4 months are finally receiving their rescheduled dates. By the end of this summer, the site is expected to finally allow new appointments to be created.
One concerning element that might cause a rescheduled person a little more anxiety is the fact that they'll have to wait in the line of schedulers once more if they fail their test.
2. Safety Precautions
Before you are allowed inside the actual building, you first have to wait in line to be checked for possible signs of Covid. Of course all people are expected to stay 6 feet apart while they wait their turn. Once you make it to the front, you are asked if you've been anywhere in the past 14 days in which you might've come into contact with the virus or anyone who might've had it.
They also ask if you've had any symptoms that might suggest that you have been infected. Once the questions have been asked, the employee then scans your forehead to check that your temperature is normal. If everything checks out and you are fine, the next part of the process is receiving a sticker to show that you're fine and waiting just outside of the building for a space to open up inside.
You might be wondering what their solution was to keep both people in the car safe. Well, first of all, they made masks mandatory inside the building, and especially in the car. Next, the examiner covers their seat with plastic and puts a plastic mat under their feet.
The windows are preferred to be rolled down to increase the insulation within the car. This is all done to make sure that they don't contaminate you, and you don't contaminate them.
3. The Actual Test
On the DMV's site, they've said that they're trying to shorten tests and lengthen their testing days so that more people get the opportunity to test so that new appointments can be scheduled as soon as possible. First, they check that you know how your car works and that you can signal safely to the cars around you. While it's not the most ideal situation, masks are mandatory inside of the car, no matter how uncomfortable they are to wear.
If you can help it, try not to cough at all because that might make the people around you concerned that you might be infected. During the test, just breathe normally and focus on the road.
While all of these new improvements to increase safety and try to normalize the driving-world may be extremely strange and uncomfortable, it is still possible to pass. Hopefully this article helps prepare you for the new process at the DMV so that you can focus on your test instead of worrying about what the changes might look like on your test day. Have a good test, and good luck!
