Lynnwood Driver Licensing Office — Attraction in Lynnwood

For those who need to take Driver Knowledge and Practical Knowledge tests in order to renew their licenses, read this:

This office does not take walk-ins. This is in spite of information on flyers given out by the DMV, which indicates that walk-in tests are possible at the Lynnwood location. The best you can do as a walk-in is schedule a Knowledge test later, but it will be at least one month from your walk-in date. You also have to be an absolute jerk until they help you. They work very hard to turn people without appointments away.

No one can actually reserve a Driver Knowledge Skills test appointment via the website. What happens is that the system caps out at one month in advance for appointments, but doesn't allow anyone to reserve for any time past one month in advance. Therefore, you're stuck with a reservation screen that never shows any openings. Or, it only shows a last-minute cancellation for 15 minutes into the future! Or, it sends you on a 1.5 hr road trip to Whidbey Island, a full month in the future! Impossible reservations like that. I was lectured at this location for not making an appointment. The reason I didn't make a reservation is because it was mechanically impossible to make a reservation, by their own design. Going in person was my only option and I felt very punished. I really did sit on the reservation website for 3+ months and never got an opening that worked for me.

The website and documentation handed out by the DMV further complicate matters by not being accurate to the options available. You cannot actually walk into the DLO and request a knowledge test, for instance. It also never mentions other options.

A workaround: Driving school. Even the DLO staff were confused that we didn't go to a driving school for our practical testing...But this costs ~$100-$200. While I am lucky that I can afford that, this institution needs to be more fair to people who cannot afford that. It's possibly cheaper than having to take off work for 2-3 different days and upwards of 10+ hours, but that is also not fair for those who don't have cash to drop on a for-profit driving school. The DMV didn't even mention this as an option and if the information is on the .gov website, someone decided not to make it easily accessible.

We should petition our state representative to fix the licensing system, which simultaneously requires documentation that it does not allow us to get without turning to for-profit companies. Walk-in knowledge testing should be freely available on more days of the week. Everyone needs a car in this area. We shouldn't be funneled into for-profit driving schools just to get re-certified for driving.

In short, this is not the place you want to go for your Driver Knowledge Test, but it should absolutely be the place for taking a Driver Knowledge Test. It's probably just desperately underfunded but I hope that this review...

I had to renew my driver's license, but I couldn't seem to be able to get an appointment online(needed to get enhanced). When finally I was able to get online the earliest appointment was for Dec 28th and my license was expiring on the 6th. The website says it's open for limited hours. Well I got there at 11:30am only to find 2 lines outside the door: one for those with appointments and the other for those that didn't. I stood in the latter one. An official came out and said they'd get to us time permitting coz we were on stand by. Stood in line for 3hrs got hungry and cold and left. I returned and sat in the car until 4pm by now the non appointment line was down to 2 people ahead of me everyone else had left. The 2 ahead left when the official said it didn't look good for us today. I refused to go because he did mention the last person is seen by 4:45pm and there was only one person in the appointment line. As luck would have it one of official's who had been coming in and out checking people in asked what is I needed and I told him. It was 4:45pm and he said "ok." He was polite and professional. The person who did my paper work was also polite and professional and had seen me outside a couple of times and was surprised I waited that long(5+hrs). I was that desperate. I was out in 20mins. The place is clean, hand sanitizing is required before sitting, the chairs are 6ft apart arranged in a 2seats together then 1 seat alone sequence thus providing for limited seating. There is also plexiglass at the counter window and a mask required at all times, even when standing outside maintaining 6ft. I gave this place 4 stars because even though I didn't have an appointment those that did were moving at a steady pace and seemed to leave on average 15mins. Pretty fast considering not all the counters were open for business. Get the appointment people avoid the misery(lucked out no rain). Get to it as soon as you get the notice or you'll end up not driving...

Five stars for the man who set me up for my enhanced driver's license. One star for the way this office provides services to arriving customers. I arrived at 11:30. There were 13 service windows open. There was about 15-20 people with ticket numbers waiting in chairs. Every person that entered the door was told that there was no walk-in appointment space. They were given the option to come back at 1pm in hopes that a space was available or come another day. She encouraged people to reserve an appointment time on line. One elderly gentleman was surprised that you had to make an appointment online. He said he didn't know how to do it online. He said he drove a long way to get to this DMV office. He left frustrated yet he was polite. I decided to make an appointment right then. I got one at 11:45. It only took about 15 minutes to get to a window. Many people were turned away and did not need to be turned away. That elderly gentleman should have been helped make an appointment on his phone. If that isn't allowed, then an instruction sheet with pictures should be provided. The woman who was sending everyone away, was surprised when I showed her my reservation was available in 10 minutes. She was telling everyone the office was too busy for walk-ins. The DMV needs t ok better train to their managers and workers to accurately assess how busy they are. They need to keep in mind that the majority of customers have only experienced walking in and waiting. Making online appointments clearly is not advertised enough. Also, help elderly and disabled people make appointments or squeeze them in. I wish I had finished making my appointment before he left. I would have helped him get one...