GREENVILLE, S.C. - The long lines at the state's DMV offices have prompted Gov. Jim Hodges to order a 30-day grace period for drivers whose license and registration expire this month.

"The governor doesn't want anyone to be punished for something that's beyond their control," Hodges spokesman Morton Brilliant said.

The Division of Motor Vehicles has experienced a backlog of registration renewals caused by the installation of a new computer system but deputy director David Burgis said that's just part of the problem.

Burgis said the division is also dealing with budget cuts, old buildings and fewer staffers. He said the new system, called Operation Phoenix, won't cut the lines by itself.

"We have always said that Phoenix will not make the lines go away," Burgis said.

But to counter those lines, Hodges has ordered Public Safety Department Director Boykin Rose to waive any late charges for expired licenses or registrations this month. Hodges also ordered the Highway Patrol not to issue tickets for licenses and registrations that expire in August.

DMV officials said the problems with the $40 million upgrade, which started earlier this month, have been fixed. But Burgis said the division is nowhere near eliminating the lines.

DMV customers responding to a survey said 20 minutes would be an acceptable waiting time.

"I don't see us going to 20 minutes unless we get additional resources," Burgis said.

The systems change was started three years ago when DMV hired CACI Inc., of Arlington, Va., to install Microsoft Windows technology. The first phase started last year when new terminals were added and phase two began earlier this month when the new system software was installed.

Rose said there is no plan to penalize the computer installers and said when a computer error is discovered, it is worked out as soon as possible.

DMV decided not to run the old and new systems at the same time to head off conversion problems because it would have cost millions more, Rose said.

Rose and others blame budget cuts, buildings not designed to serve up to 500 people a day and the inability to retain staff.

"The average length of stay is two years. You can barely get them trained before they are leaving," Burgis said. "We don't compete in the marketplace for the skill sets that we need. We are not competitive with salary."

Hodges has also asked other law enforcement agencies not to issue tickets for expired licenses and registrations.

"Our deputies have been instructed to use their best common judgment," said Charleston County Sheriff's Department Operations Maj. Van Horn.

Officers are being told to look at the registration and other paperwork to determine if delays are long-standing.

"We've been instructing them that they should err way on the side of the motorists," Horn said.

The State

-- Anonymous, August 20, 2002

Answers

Computer glitch drives up delays

A malfunction of the Division of Motor Vehicles' new computer system caused extended waits Friday at the Myrtle Beach office.

A registration program error tied up the server, said Joan Beardsley, spokeswoman for the S.C. Department of Public Safety.

The server is the main storehouse of information for the computer system to recall.

Friday's computer failure is the latest glitch among recent complaints about the new computer system and concerns from police officers that pertinent drivers' information isn't always available.

The malfunction was corrected in seven to eight minutes, Beardsley said. However, she said there were incidents where DMV offices took longer to "roll over to the secondary server."

Christie Chestnut, a clerk at the Myrtle Beach DMV office on 21st Avenue North, said the system there was down for about 30 to 45 minutes.

Patrons at the Myrtle Beach office didn't seem unnerved by the wait. Instead, they brought along reading materials or spoke to others waiting in line.

Shannon Duvall, a 19-year-old Surfside Beach resident, fell asleep and woke up 10 numbers later. She was No. 69. She arrived at 10 a.m. and was not called until 1:01 p.m.

Kaye and Charles Bright of Garden City Beach became fast friends with Debbie Banks of Murrells Inlet after they all arrived around 11:30 p.m. and were still waiting after 1 p.m.

The new computers are the first phase of Project Phoenix, a five-year, $40 million plan to overhaul the DMV with new technology, procedures and training. So far, customers said they can't see a difference in their DMV visits.

"The waiting time is about average," said Kaye Bright, who visited the DMV to get her new license tag. "At least we get to sit down."

Charles Bright read a newspaper when he wasn't talking to his wife or Banks.

Customers at the Myrtle Beach office Friday said the DMV employees were pleasant and helpful, although some of them seemed stressed.

"She is very kind," said Kaye Bright of Lynette Rose, who helped customers as they walked in the door.

Leslie Owens, who worked a window, warmed Ellie Sneed's heart when she helped Sneed's husband, Ben. He was No. 77, but Owens let him be No. 66 because Sneed, who is handicapped, has trouble sitting and standing.

"That was so sweet of her," said Ellie Sneed, a Myrtle Beach resident. "And nobody waiting in line complained."

Myrtle Beach Online

-- Anonymous, August 24, 2002

Computer glitches irk customers, clerks

If you think it's a pain to stand in a seemingly endless line at the motor vehicles office, the people on the other side of the counter want you to know it's been no picnic for them.

Clerks and managers say they've been as frustrated by computer glitches as the unfortunate folk in lines that have been stretching out the doors every day for two weeks.

But, they say, it seems like things may be getting better.

"From Aug. 7 until today, it's been about a 2½-hour wait from the time we opened the doors until we locked them at 5," said Dennie Bedenbaugh, manager of the Irmo-Ballentine Division of Motor Vehicles office.

But not Thursday.

"I don't know what's happening out there today," she said.

Gone were the lines out the door. And, lines at the counter were downright manageable.

At Columbia's Shop Road, one of the DMV's busiest offices, there were empty chairs.

"It's busy, but it's been processing good," Shop Road office manager Janie Rice said Thursday afternoon.

Motor vehicle offices were closed Aug. 1 and 2 to install a new computer system.

Employees say the new system seems slower and unpredictable.

Bedenbaugh said some driver information wasn't moved from the old system to the new, so clerks have had to call the data center. That takes a day or two, she said. Some customers had to wait two hours or longer in line only to be turned away because their information wasn't in the computer.

And, when the computer system showed an error message or simply shut down, clerks had to start again.

Some customers have gotten annoyed, Bedenbaugh said, but most have been nice.

Painting contractor Amy James, 34, of Cayce, who was transferring a title at the Irmo-Ballentine office, said things were much better Thursday than a week ago.

She had taken an employee to the DMV last week to take a written test. "I guess it was a three-to-four-hour ordeal. It wasn't moving at all. It was costing me money."

On Thursday, she completed her business in about an hour.

"Last week, I wasn't happy. I had my baby with me," she said. "We were here from 9 a.m. until lunch time. There were no snack machines. No drinks."

She said it doesn't help that people often come unprepared. "You stand in line and get to the front; then they (clerks) have to help people with their paperwork."

Bedenbaugh said not one of her 12 employees missed work during the busy two weeks, so all 11 clerk windows and examination stations could operate.

At Shop Road, Rice said employees have been equally impressive, and she's learned patience.

"When I go to the grocery store, I just stand in line and watch people."

The State

-- Anonymous, August 24, 2002