Motor Vehicle Department Needs To Take Responsibility

There are drivers who go 15-20 miles per hour slower than the posted speed limit, of perhaps 65 mph, in the left hand lane of a super highway.  We can all agree that this is an accident waiting to happen. There are nervous, panic stricken drivers who will not make a left turn unless there is no oncoming traffic for at least a mile down the road.  We can all agree that this is frustrating and a continuous cause traffic delays.  There are drivers who will come to a complete stop at the end of an entrance ramp to a super highway because they are either to afraid to merge into traffic or simply don't know any better.  These people are an accident waiting to happen.

OK, you get the idea.  While I initially get angry at these types of drivers, I realize that they can't help themselves.  Let's face it.  There are some really nervous people out there that really shouldn't be driving at all.  There are some people with poor depth perception.  There are some people with no ability to gage their speed relative to surrounding traffic and in order to anticipate safe turns or lane changes.  There are some drivers who are just plain too stupid to drive.  Somehow, these people got a driver's license.  WHY ISN'T THE MOTOR VEHICLE DEPARTMENT HELD ACCOUNTABLE??

How in the world did these types of people get their license in the first place?  A driver's license is a privilege license.   That is why a person, in theory, has to take a road test, a vision test, and pass a written test to prove they have the capabilities necessary to earn that privilege.  In theory the standardized tests and procedures of the Motor Vehicle Department are intended to ensure that only capable drivers get a license.  First of all, I am not sure that the current tests are adequate for determining whether a person is a capable driver.  I think that really needs to be revisited.  My question is......Who was the official (in some cases a police officer) who decided to issue a driver's license to these people in the first place?  Why is there no accountability?


Let's say you were in a traffic accident caused by one of the aforementioned drivers who was clearly at fault.  Assuming you survived the accident, wouldn't you want to know the identity of the person (officer) responsible for giving this person a license?  Wouldn't you want to know that the officer's record isn't full of similar drivers getting into accidents?  Wouldn't you like to know if the offending driver has a long record of similar accidents?

There are some simple solutions to this general problem:

1. Every driver's license needs to have the identity of the officer(s) that gave the road test, vision test, written test.
2. Immediately after a traffic accident the event needs to be entered as part of the driver's license history.
3. Depending on the severity of the accident and the driver's history, the driver need to reapply for and be retested before they can drive again.
4. The accident records of the DMV officers need to be reviewed and the officers need to be held accountable for whom they issue licenses to, and when warranted, the officers need to be fired or reassigned out of the DMV.

There are lives and property at stake here!  I believe it is criminally stupid to allow incompetent drivers to have driver's licenses.  I believe it is criminally stupid to not hold the DMV and it's officers responsible for issuing licenses to incompetent drivers.