Pennsylvania drivers' licenses

[JacksinPA]

PA DL's are good for 2 years if you select that option when renewing. Every 4 years or so you have you are forced by state law to go to a state photo center where they'll even laminate your card.

One of the main problems with this facility is that it is small & cramped. You walk in, take a number & then wait for at least an hour. This is bad enough with no COVID but with no rigid mask or vaccination mandates, you might as well climb into a lab Petri dish where they are breeding viruses.

I had an accident & have to go to PT before I will be able to drive my 4-speed stick, so I have no immediate need for a complete DL. And even though I've gotten my 3 Pfizer jabs, I have no enthusiasm for getting exposed to any recent variants.

I'll look for possible workarounds.

J

 

[Common Sense 1]

When we lived in PA we would get our driver's license at a very small satellite office. They were open only 2 days a week and usually 1 or 2 waiting. If you don't mind driving some look for one of the small offices away from large population centers.

 

[WillyPete]

In California, I'd say just drive without a license as they don't actually enforce traffic law here, and I've done that for years at a time with no issues.

But I know it's pretty different back east.

 

[Common Sense 1]

In California, I'd say just drive without a license as they don't actually enforce traffic law here, and I've done that for years at a time with no issues.

But I know it's pretty different back east.

How do you get car insurance with out a valid driver's license?

 

[JacksinPA]

In California, I'd say just drive without a license as they don't actually enforce traffic law here, and I've done that for years at a time with no issues.

But I know it's pretty different back east.

In California, I'd say just drive without a license as they don't actually enforce traffic law here, and I've done that for years at a time with no issues.

But I know it's pretty different back east.

I plan to do the same thing with both my DL & inspection sticker.

 

[Rexedgar]

I used to live in Fredericksburg, VA. The DMV used to be a small cramped building set up like a bank inside. There were “teller” positions set up for about six agents with admin offices behind them. The waiting area was cramped and you were lucky if there were three windows operating. The “tellers” were definitely working by the hour and acted as though they were doing you a favor. As the population of the area increased, a new modern facility was built. You entered and stated your needs, were assigned a ticket similar to a deli and took a seat. There was an overhead screen that displayed your number and the station you were to report to. Things moved along briskly compared to the earlier operation and the stations were plentiful and mostly manned. The attitude of the employees had changed markedly. A visit to the DMV became not so bad.

I went back about two years later and the whole experience had changed back to the old way of doing business. The stations are plentiful still, but it’s like a Walmart. Plenty of check-out stations but only about three open when you need to check out. I think DMVs are probably a terrible experience in most states.

 

[WillyPete]

How do you get car insurance with out a valid driver's license?

It's been a while, but at that time there was no insurance either, though in my experience all the online insurance wants is info from the vehicle.

Maybe that's a state thing too, or maybe I would have been in a world of hurt if I had been in an accident, but in the actual event it was smooth sailing.

That's my point. There's no enforcement (relative to other places I've lived) of any of it. Police don't even maintain a presence like they do in other places. I don't go out a lot, but I will routinely go several weeks without seeing any police, and I live in LA county. You want to see a cop, you'd better go to the airport or to the police station.

I plan to do the same thing with both my DL & inspection sticker.

Good luck! If Pennsylvania is anything like Ohio on enforcement, you'll probably regret it!

 

[aociswundumho]

In California, I'd say just drive without a license as they don't actually enforce traffic law here, and I've done that for years at a time with no issues.

I plan to do the same thing with both my DL & inspection sticker.

I love hearing stuff like this. It is utterly ridiculous to need government permission to drive. A driver's license benefits no one except the state.

 

[EMNofSeattle]

PA DL's are good for 2 years if you select that option when renewing. Every 4 years or so you have you are forced by state law to go to a state photo center where they'll even laminate your card.

One of the main problems with this facility is that it is small & cramped. You walk in, take a number & then wait for at least an hour. This is bad enough with no COVID but with no rigid mask or vaccination mandates, you might as well climb into a lab Petri dish where they are breeding viruses.

I had an accident & have to go to PT before I will be able to drive my 4-speed stick, so I have no immediate need for a complete DL. And even though I've gotten my 3 Pfizer jabs, I have no enthusiasm for getting exposed to any recent variants.

I'll look for possible workarounds.

J

Your state royally blows, I only have to renew every 5 and photo only every 10

 

[Peter]

I love hearing stuff like this. It is utterly ridiculous to need government permission to drive. A driver's license benefits no one except the state.

Are you seriously saying you think requiring a driving licence is a bad thing?
Requiring a benchmark minimum standard of driving proficiency seems sensible when people can do cause mass death in multivehicle pile-ups.

Having the roads as a free for all would be stupid and the accident rate would skyrocket.

 

[EMNofSeattle]

Are you seriously saying you think requiring a driving licence is a bad thing?
Requiring a benchmark minimum standard of driving proficiency seems sensible when people can do cause mass death in multivehicle pile-ups.

Having the roads as a free for all would be stupid and the accident rate would skyrocket.

I mean given the standards required to get a drivers license and how available cars are it’s not really like the licenses prevent accidents anyway, it’s like the old question “how would your life change if you couldn’t drive legally” answer “I would just drive illegally”

Not kidding, if my license were suspended I would just drive anyway.

 

[Peter]

It's a bit different in the UK.
The police have automatic scanners on their cars which scan number plates and tell them instantly that a car has no tax, drivers license or insurance.
You won't get away with it for very long and the fines and possible prison sentence doesn't make it worth it.

 

[EMNofSeattle]

It's a bit different in the UK.
The police have automatic scanners on their cars which scan number plates and tell them instantly that a car has no tax, drivers license or insurance.
You won't get away with it for very long and the fines and possible prison sentence doesn't make it worth it.

The car doesn’t have a drivers license. The driver does. It is not probable cause to stop a vehicle that the registered owner doesn’t have a drivers license.

You might say it’s different in the UK, but we’re not talking about the UK. We have auto plate scanners here too, but if the scanner told the officer that the registered owner doesn’t have a valid license it would be illegal for a police officer to stop for that alone unless they know for sure it’s that guy actually driving the car.

Our car insurance isn’t in any way attached to the vehicle registration or drivers license. I have never had to prove I have insurance to register a car. Also car registration has nothing to do with the licensing status of the owner, an owner with a suspended license can pay for their tabs just like anyone else.

As far as consequences? Well thanks to the liberals far left socialists and their false claims of American racism they’ve stopped even prosecuting DWLS in any jurisdictions because too many minorities don’t upkeep their documents. You can accumulate like 5-10 DWLS charges and in many cases not even show up to court for them and you won’t spend any time in jail

 

[LetsGoBrandon]

PA DL's are good for 2 years if you select that option when renewing. Every 4 years or so you have you are forced by state law to go to a state photo center where they'll even laminate your card.

One of the main problems with this facility is that it is small & cramped. You walk in, take a number & then wait for at least an hour. This is bad enough with no COVID but with no rigid mask or vaccination mandates, you might as well climb into a lab Petri dish where they are breeding viruses.

I had an accident & have to go to PT before I will be able to drive my 4-speed stick, so I have no immediate need for a complete DL. And even though I've gotten my 3 Pfizer jabs, I have no enthusiasm for getting exposed to any recent variants.

I'll look for possible workarounds.

J

Your problem is likely progressives running the facilities. After an election several years ago, botting the progressive leadership, the average wait for tags or drivers licenses in my area is 10 minutes. And I just renewed my DL online.

 

[EMNofSeattle]

Your problem is likely progressives running the facilities. After an election several years ago, botting the progressive leadership, the average wait for tags or drivers licenses in my area is 10 minutes. And I just renewed my DL online.

Somehow Washington state finally privatized many of the DOL functions several years ago and now the DMV is in any out in under 30 minutes, when I changed my DL to California it was a pain though because the liberals in California are intent on making the working folk suffer so state employees can be lazy dem voters

 

[LetsGoBrandon]

Somehow Washington state finally privatized many of the DOL functions several years ago and now the DMV is in any out in under 30 minutes, when I changed my DL to California it was a pain though because the liberals in California are intent on making the working folk suffer so state employees can be lazy dem voters

Yep, my experience before the progressives were tossed out was walking in, taking a number and waiting anywhere from a couple hours to half the day. And this was time taken off from work. There were 12 windows, and usually about four of them would be open. I would see them handle a citizen or two and then go grab a bag of potato chips and take a break for 20 minutes, then repeat.

 

[Bodi]

It's been a while, but at that time there was no insurance either, though in my experience all the online insurance wants is info from the vehicle.

Maybe that's a state thing too, or maybe I would have been in a world of hurt if I had been in an accident, but in the actual event it was smooth sailing.

That's my point. There's no enforcement (relative to other places I've lived) of any of it. Police don't even maintain a presence like they do in other places. I don't go out a lot, but I will routinely go several weeks without seeing any police, and I live in LA county. You want to see a cop, you'd better go to the airport or to the police station.




Good luck! If Pennsylvania is anything like Ohio on enforcement, you'll probably regret it!

We should all be listening to this advice... drive without a license and without insurance... brilliant.

 

[WillyPete]

We should all be listening to this advice... drive without a license and without insurance... brilliant.

I didn't really frame it as advice, though it's obviously the option I went with. Made sense at the time.

My point is about lack of enforcement, more than anything. I grew up and learned to drive in a place that would never put up with the shenanigans I've pulled out here. They'd have jailed me back home for things that CA cops have let me slide on. It's not just me slaloming around out there with my leg hanging out the window and no license plate.

I'm slamming California enforcement policy, not responsible behavior.

 

[Bodi]

I didn't really frame it as advice, though it's obviously the option I went with. Made sense at the time.

My point is about lack of enforcement, more than anything. I grew up and learned to drive in a place that would never put up with the shenanigans I've pulled out here. They'd have jailed me back home for things that CA cops have let me slide on. It's not just me slaloming around out there with my leg hanging out the window and no license plate.

I'm slamming California enforcement policy, not responsible behavior.

I realize that...

 

[Amelia]

DL good for 8 years in Wisconsin. And I suppose because of Covid, I didn't even have to go in for a new photo this last time around.

I couldn't find my birth certificate so I couldn't get the REAL ID. And since I wasn't getting that, I renewed online and they used my old photo. Good for another 8 years of driving ... watch out, Wisconsin! ... though not good for boarding a plane come May of 2023.

 

[JacksinPA]

I love hearing stuff like this. It is utterly ridiculous to need government permission to drive. A driver's license benefits no one except the state.

Further reading tell you that PA gives you 6 months of renew an expired DL.

I beat a ticket for a double line violation once. Clear road but light fog. Old man in front of me was doing at most 15 in a 50. Big car behind me was tailgating me, so I had to get out of there, so I passed with the car behind me right on my tail. State trooper unmarked car. He thought was it such a done deal he did not show up for court so we both had to come the next week. I defended myself & stated that the situation was an emergency & that the trooper made it so by tailing me & that in situations like that usual rules were secondary. The judge took the case 'under advisement.' The trooper was furious. Not only had I beaten the ticket, I made him waste a day. If I get any fallout from my expired DL I'll use the same argument based on the virus.

 

[aociswundumho]

I beat a ticket for a double line violation once. Clear road but light fog. Old man in front of me was doing at most 15 in a 50. Big car behind me was tailgating me, so I had to get out of there, so I passed with the car behind me right on my tail. State trooper unmarked car.

I had a similar experience once when I was in my 20s. I was driving past midnight up Route 7, which is a rural highway in CT that goes to Massachusetts. Almost no cars on the road at this time of night. I was maybe 10 over the speed limit, when some jerk starts tailgating me - really close. So I speed up, and he stays right on my ass. Pretty soon I'm doing 80 or 90 and the idiot pig puts his lights on and pulls me over. I get out, super pissed and I start yelling at the MFer for tailgating me so close and so late at night. He didn't give me a ticket and let me go.

 

[RF667799]

I had a similar experience once when I was in my 20s. I was driving past midnight up Route 7, which is a rural highway in CT that goes to Massachusetts. Almost no cars on the road at this time of night. I was maybe 10 over the speed limit, when some jerk starts tailgating me - really close. So I speed up, and he stays right on my ass. Pretty soon I'm doing 80 or 90 and the idiot pig puts his lights on and pulls me over. I get out, super pissed and I start yelling at the MFer for tailgating me so close and so late at night. He didn't give me a ticket and let me go.

I was in very much the same scenario once, only on a motorcycle and I got a ticket for 117 in a 55.

 

[Gatsby]

I mean given the standards required to get a drivers license and how available cars are it’s not really like the licenses prevent accidents anyway,

It does. Granted the driving test isn't that hard, but that's sort of the point. If someone isn't minimally competent enough to pass a driver's test, then they probably shouldn't be on the road where they will be endangering themselves and others.

it’s like the old question “how would your life change if you couldn’t drive legally” answer “I would just drive illegally”
Not kidding, if my license were suspended I would just drive anyway.

Maybe you would, but lots of people wouldn't. A friend of mine from college had his license suspended for a few months after he got a DUI; it was a hassle for him but he complied with it. An elderly relative of mine also lost his license after a minor accident that was his fault. He wasn't happy about it, but he stopped driving after that. For many people, being told by a court or a DMV that they can't drive is a bit of a wake-up call for them.

 

[multivita-man]

I had a similar experience once when I was in my 20s. I was driving past midnight up Route 7, which is a rural highway in CT that goes to Massachusetts. Almost no cars on the road at this time of night. I was maybe 10 over the speed limit, when some jerk starts tailgating me - really close. So I speed up, and he stays right on my ass. Pretty soon I'm doing 80 or 90 and the idiot pig puts his lights on and pulls me over. I get out, super pissed and I start yelling at the MFer for tailgating me so close and so late at night. He didn't give me a ticket and let me go.

My first ticket was kinda like that. I was 16, though. I was afraid of cops back then - afraid of my dad, too, and worried how I was going to explain that I'd just raised his insurance rates.