State Motor Vehicle Commission agencies, inspection stations and road test facilities will now remain closed into June, but officials hinted a solution may be coming for drivers who bought vehicles privately and can’t register or drive them.
MVC facilities will now remain closed at least until June 8 to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, said Sue Fulton, chief administrator. They were originally closed on March 16.
But a day after an NJ Advance Media article told how how Virginia reopened 14 DMV agencies for appointment only transactions that can’t be done online, a governor’s spokesman said the MVC was working on a solution for drivers unable to register and drive vehicles bought from a private seller. Registering and obtaining license plates for those vehicles have to be done in person.
“The MVC is working diligently on an alternative registration/titling process for private sales that can be done without face-to-face contact, but still protects the customer from fraud,” said Jerrel Harvey, a governor’s spokesman. No other details were available.
Other states have made provisions for essential, in-person business that can’t be done online. Two states allow drivers to mail in or drop off documents to have a vehicle titles and license plates issued.
Virginia takes those drivers by appointment only at 14 agencies with plastic barriers between clerks and customers. Drivers have to wait in their cars until 10 minutes before their appointment and must wear masks and practice social distancing while inside.
Virginia plans to retrofit all 75 agencies and reopen them all by July or August, a spokeswoman told NJ Advance Media.
Using ideas from other states to partially open MVC agencies is difficult here due to high volume of customers served in agencies and the amount of COVID-19 cases, MVC officials said.
“We have considered many possible options, and we will make the right decisions for the state of New Jersey,” Fulton said, in an earlier interview.
There wasn’t as much hope for teenagers waiting to take road tests to get their licenses. The idea of having certified driving instructors administer road tests drew a flat no from the governor when asked on Friday.
Road tests also require an in-person appointment at MVC testing facilities. Another out-of-state idea to give drivers licenses to teenagers who passed written exams without a road test was rejected earlier in the month for safety reasons.
Frustrated drivers who bought vehicles they can’t register or use and parents of teen drivers-in-waiting continued to contact NJ Advance Media asking why the MVC doesn’t have an alternative process. Some worried about how the MVC will handle the massive backlog of in person transactions once agencies re-open.
Last week, MVC officials extended expiring driver’s licenses, vehicle registrations and inspection stickers and temporary tags another two months. Officials added those that expire in July to others that got a two-month reprieve from the document’s expiration date.
Officers reiterated that other MVC business can be done on the agency’s website, which increased the number of available online services. Most renewals of driver licenses, non-driver IDs, and registrations – including, for the first time, some commercial registrations – can be processed online at NJMVC.gov.
Customers can also change their address, pay fees, and access other services online.
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Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com.