Buffalo, NY (WBEN) If you renewed your driver's license online during the pandemic but did not submit your self-certified vision tests, your license could soon be suspended.
If you're one of the many drives affected by this, you would have received a letter requesting the vision results from the DMV.
Niagara County Clerk Joe Jasztremski says the main issue is when COVID first hit, New York State came out with a procedure where you could renew your driver's license online and get your vision test done independently, because at the time a lot of DMV offices were closed.
"From March 1, 2020 to August 31, 2021, they allowed individuals to renew their driver's license and then, at a later date, to be able to go catch up and get their eye exam done, either by coming into a local DMV office, or going to a prescribed place that you could get a eye exam done like at a local Walmart," says Jasztremski. He says now what's happened is people have not complied, or just plain procrastinated. "Now they're close to being able to have their license suspended, if they don't comply," warns Jasztremski.
Jasztremski says if you have a letter, go to a local DMV office. "If you want to bring that letter, you come into our office, show your letter, when you come into the office, we'll do your eye test right then in there, free of charge, and then what we'll do is we'll forward that on to the state and you're good to go," he notes.
Drivers can go to the New York State website and find an approved provider that is convenient, says Jasztremski. "But there's a charge to that, where you can come into our office, and it would be free," he explains.
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The clerk notes this policy only pertains to individuals during that timeframe who renewed their driver's license. If you have not received a letter, you do not have to worry about it because you're in compliance.