For the third time in two weeks, Ken Wright was waiting Thursday at the Department of Licensing office in Everett.
He spent three hours there Sept. 13, papers in hand to prove he’s who he says he is. He brought a birth certificate, a divorce decree and documentation of violations for driving without a license.
“I had a Montana license, but somebody stole my wallet,” said Wright, 45, adding that he recently moved from Kalispell, Mont., to Index.
After his three-hour wait, he was back the next day taking the written test for a Washington driver’s license. On Thursday, a relative had driven him back to the office, where he nervously awaited his driving test.
“It’s horrible,” said Wright, who grew up in Sultan. He remembers cruising Everett’s Colby Avenue in a 1970 Pontiac GTO. By Thursday, all he wanted was to drive.
When it comes to a driver’s license, Wright has issues I don’t have.
I have so few issues that what looked to be notification of some terrible wrongdoing that landed in my mailbox in a state Department of Licensing envelope was actually a gift — the gift of time. It came complete with a picture of a birthday cake, along with this happy news: “You are eligible to renew your driver license or ID card online.”
Not everyone renewing in person faces a three-hour wait. From the Department of Licensing Web site, www.dol.wa.gov, you’ll find wait times along with office locations. At 1:21 p.m. Thursday, a 19-minute wait was estimated for renewals at the Everett office.
Still, what a deal not to show up at all. For $25, the same price as in person, you can renew without leaving home. There’s no photo or eye exam. Stay in pajamas, skip combing your hair, don’t fret about whether you can still see tiny letters well enough to get behind the wheel.
The system has safeguards, according to Christine Anthony, a Department of Licensing spokeswoman. “It’s not for everybody,” she said. “Drivers can’t renew online if they have any medical condition or vision problem requiring a physician’s certification.”
When you renew online, you’ll be asked to verify that your vision is good and your health isn’t a danger.
Online renewal was first offered in 2004. To be eligible, your last renewal had to have been in person, and not before Sept. 1, 2001; you must be between 24 and 65; and you need a credit card, Social Security number, and the mailed renewal notice with an authorization number. It’s not available for anyone who moved within six weeks of renewal or for those with unpaid traffic tickets or a license suspension.
“We feel it’s a good service, it reduces the number of car trips and helps people save time,” Anthony said. In 2005, the state saw 27,700 people, 4 percent of all renewals, making the transaction online; by 2006, the numbers had risen to 79,300, or about 11 percent.
There are two reasons for the age requirement, according to the Department of Licensing. First, its Web site says, drivers between 24 and 65 are “least likely to be involved in serious traffic violations or collisions.”
Also, “because the appearance of younger people has a tendency to change dramatically over five years, it was decided to require a new photo for each renewal until age 24.”
With a birthday next month, I took the bait and renewed online. Now I’m having second thoughts.
I won’t get another picture until, gulp, 2012. I was in my late 40s for the last one, which I think looks slightly younger than I look now. Will anyone believe it’s me by the time I’m a year from 60?
Eyes? They’ll still be green.
But weight? Maybe by 2012 I’ll see “135” as a fine incentive, rather than the fiction it is on my license.
By 2012, my boy will be an eighth-grader, not too far from driving age. Talk about worry lines.
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
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