New Oregon residents won’t need to take driver’s knowledge test after June 5
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SALEM, OR (KPTV) — If you’ve attempted to get an appointment at the DMV in the last year, it’s been a struggle because of their backlog. If you try to schedule one now, it’ll likely be a couple of months before you can get in the door.
“At the highest point, title turnaround, in worst-case scenarios was up to 20 weeks, in the middle of winter. We’ve been getting that down, down, down. It’s down below 15 weeks now. In a typically busy summer, in normal times, 4 or 5 weeks would be the outside. We’re still way outside that. This is an unprecedented backlog,” David House, a DMV spokesman, said.
House Bill 2137, signed by Governor Brown Thursday, makes changes the DMV said will help relieve that backlog.
One of them makes it easier for new Oregon residents to get their driver’s license. They will no longer need to take the written knowledge test as long as they have a valid driver’s license from another state that isn’t more than a year expired.
“Probably more than a thousand new residents come into Oregon every month. Of those, if you happen to fail this knowledge test, at this time when it’s really hard to get an appointment, you could have to make another appointment and come in again. This is one way we can reduce some repeat visits,” House said.
This change is something new Oregon resident Jay Dekker is excited about.
“We had no idea when we got here that we actually had to take a reexamination of our knowledge test to get our driver’s license,” he said. “Excited and happy about it just because it’s been such an ordeal just to get a place at the DMV.”
The new law also extends the moratorium for certain traffic offenses until December. This means you can’t get a ticket for an expired license or registrations as long as it hasn’t been expired longer than six months.
It also gives current residents more time to renew their license.
“Instead of just one year, you now have two years that your license has been expired and you do not need to take the tests again,” House said. “All these kinds of measures, all these little things here and there, adding additional staff, having voluntary overtime work at the DMV are among many measures we’re taking that all add up a little bit to catch up with the backlog.”
These changes go into effect June 5.
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