AAA No Licensing Sites May Impact Waterford

by Jack Kramer

Correspondent

WATERFORD, CT – If you’ve noticed a little increased traffic at the AAA office in town since the first of the year, you weren’t imagining things.

Drivers in New Haven and Fairfield counties no longer have the option of using their local AAA offices to renew their driver licenses as an alternative to long lines at Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) branch offices.

The motor club has eight offices in Branford, Danbury, Fairfield, Hamden, Milford, Norwalk, Stamford, and Waterbury. Those offices are no longer doing license renewals for either members - or non-members.
DMV said it could not reach an agreement with the AAA franchise serving Fairfield and New Haven counties to continue licensing and ID card renewal services after Dec. 31, 2016.

But the remainder of Connecticut is served by AAA Allied, with local headquarters in West Hartford, and it will continue to provide services, including license renewals, to all members of the general public throughout its eight offices around the state (Avon, Cromwell, Enfield, Manchester, Old Saybrook, Plainville, Waterford and West Hartford), according to Karen Christiana, general manager of AAA Allied.

Amy Parmenter, spokesperson AAA Allied, said it was “too soon to really tell” if the Waterford and other AAA Allied offices have experienced an increase in traffic due to the AAA offices in New Haven and Fairfield counties no longer handling licensing.

When Parmenter was told that one person who went to the West Hartford AAA Allied office last week waited nearly an hour to get his license renewed, due to the line, she said that “could have been because of the time of day he went.”

“There are always busy times and less busy times,” said Parmenter.

Parmenter conceded that AAA Allied anticipates “that it is a possibility that we will see more people now.”

“We don’t want to have lines,” said Parmenter, who said AAA Allied will “give it a little more time” before deciding whether it needs to make any changes to staffing or scheduling.

Image via Mark Goebel/Flickr Commons.