That depends on the state, honestly. I am from Indiana, where they worked on improving that experience. I haven't lived there for 5 years, but even before then I noticed a vast difference. It was no longer a soul-sucking experience that had the very real potential to eat your day.
https://www.sagamoreinstitute.org/case-study-in-culture-chan...
I would see it more as an application of Popper's falsification principle.
I'm from Norway, and the only time I've had to visit our DMV was when I took the driving test to get my license.
You do have to renew your drivers licence every x years, but in some states you can do that online at times. Instead of the population register, where you update your address, most places in the US do that through your drivers license. Most people's main form of ID is their license as well and most states want pictures to be updated. Some states have different backgrounds for those under 21 (the drinking age) as well.
Buying a car requires a trip to the DMV as well. There is no option of simply waiting for your papers in the mail. To complicate things further, in some states the physical license plate isn't associated with the car, but with the person owning the car.
In many states, you have to also register your car every year and update your plates. Some states you can do this online, however, in many cases.
That is on top of things like getting your drivers licence, learning permits, and all of those little things.
I have a few anecdotes about the DMV. I wonder if research would back up my hunch that the DMV is really bad at customer service. I'd certainly bet on it in a prediction market.