California DMV could reopen offices this month — but you’re going to need a mask
The California Department of Motor Vehicles will begin reopening its offices to the public as early as this month, according to Director Steve Gordon.
DMV field offices have been closed since late March due to safety concerns surrounding the coronavirus. Many DMV services are now offered online, through a virtual office.
Gordon said in an interview that he does not have a fixed date to open offices. The department is planning to open sites in phases, starting with appointment-only business and gradually adding services.
“We’re going to start with limited offices, limited services,” Gordon said.
The department has about 8,500 employees, many of whom are working from home or in offices that are closed to the public. Gov. Gavin Newsom has called the department the “retail face of government” because it’s the arm of the state that most Californians are likely to interact with in person, from obtaining drivers’ licenses to registering to vote.
Newsom and the Trump administration since March have taken steps to let drivers put off visits to DMV offices because of concerns that the coronavirus could spread in public settings.
The Trump administration extended a deadline for Americans to obtain so-called Real ID cards by one year, giving people until Oct. 1, 2021 to get the kind of identification that will be necessary under federal law to travel through domestic airports without a passport.
Newsom has given Californians more time to renew licenses and encouraged law enforcement agencies to use discretion when writing traffic citations, such as for an expired vehicle registration.
Under Gordon’s reopening plan, the DMV will continue to limit both lobby seating and admission in order to reduce the number of people inside a building at a given time.
Customers also will be required to wear a face mask before they are allowed to enter.
DMV employees will be provided assorted personal protective equipment, including face masks and face shields.
“We’re doing simple things. We’re just using standard PPE protocol,” Gordon said.
The department could resume driving tests as early as June under the timeline Gordon shared. He acknowledged there are safety concerns, amid the COVID-19 emergency, for both DMV employees and customers when it comes to being in the close quarters of a vehicle.
“The drive test, we just don’t have an answer for,” he said.
His goal is to open additional branch offices and offer additional services until the DMV resumes full operation, including offering driving tests, within 30 days of reopening, Gordon said.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do between now and then to make that plan real,” he said.
This story was originally published May 5, 2020 at 11:50 AM with the headline "California DMV could reopen offices this month — but you’re going to need a mask."