BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — Long lines, a shortage of designated examiners, and COVID-19 delays are causing frustration for numerous families looking to get their teen a driver's test.
Getting her 16-year-old, daughter a driver's test has been an ongoing process for Shellie Love.
"We knew we had to get there a little bit early and that they only took a limited amount of people, and so I think the first day we got in line I want to say about 5:00," says Love.
She says she knew it would be somewhat of a wait, but she wasn't prepared for how long it would take.
"The line was all the way down the sidewalk and so you sit, you don't really know what's going to happen and you wait it out for 3 hours," she says.
Day after day, Shellie says she and her daughter woke up early and stood in line for hours only to be turned away.
"You've just spent 20 hours in line sitting on concrete, you've watched older people, you've watched people sleep on the concrete. There are no toilets around, there's no porta-potties, there's no anything for somebody to go to the bathroom," she says.
Shellie says the system seems to be broken.
"You're sleeping on a bench at 1:30 so you can get into a DMV. It makes no sense," says Shellie.
We reached out to the Department of Public Safety to find out what was causing the delay.
Sarah Stewart tells 2 News there are multiple reasons for the delay at various DMV locations.
"They operate on a first-come, first serve basis. They don't take appointments and so they have been short-staffed there. The full staff for them would be 8 drive examiners and right now they only have 6 and one of them has only been there for about 2 weeks," says Sarah Stewart, Director of Media Operations for the Department of Public Safety.
Stewart says high demand also plays a part.
"I spoke with the manager out there and she says when she opens the doors at 8:00, there could be anywhere from 40 to 80 people already lined up outside those doors," says Stewart.
On average, the Broken Arrow location can do about 12 to 15 driver's tests a day, but it's not a guarantee.
"It's kind of unpredictable and people take off and people get sick and so we have to factor in for those kinds of things also," says Stewart.
The west Tulsa location does take appointments, but they're booked pretty far out.
The Eastgate and Broken Arrow locations also do not take appointments, so it's on a first-come, first-served basis.
Stewart says another option people have is to go to a designated examiner where your child took Driver's Ed, but it will cost you.
"From what I understand, a lot of these places do those driving tests even on nights and weekends, and so that is always an option for people as well," she says.
Now, Shellie says she plans to take her daughter to a designated examiner even if she has to pay for her test.
"Obviously, this system is broken and obviously, a lot of things need to change," says Shellie.
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