NC lawmakers may help teens who can’t get driver’s licenses during COVID-19 pandemic

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Teens who have seen their efforts to become licensed drivers interrupted by the coronavirus outbreak may soon get some relief from the General Assembly.

The state Division of Motor Vehicles stopped offering road tests to drivers in mid March as part of a larger strategy to prevent the spread of coronavirus among DMV customers and staff. The only exceptions are for commercial driver’s licenses and medical evaluations.

Road tests remain suspended even as restrictions on most businesses have been relaxed. DMV hasn’t set a date to resume them, said spokesman Steve Abbott, but hopes it can when North Carolina enters the next phase of reopening under Gov. Roy Cooper’s plan, which could be several weeks from now.

“We know the road test situation is frustrating to new drivers and their parents, as it is to us as well,” Abbott wrote in an email Tuesday. “We are still partnering with health officials to determine when they can be resumed safely, and when they are, what safety measures should be in place.”

Caroline Lewis of Morehead City is among thousands of teens whose plans to get a provisional license are in limbo. Lewis turns 16 in June and would like to be able to drive herself to her summer job at a surf shop in Atlantic Beach, according to her mother, Jodi Lewis, who says her daughter has met all the requirements except the road test.

“This is a really big deal to her,” she said.

At least four bills filed in the General Assembly on Tuesday address teen drivers, including two that would temporarily suspend the need to pass a road test. All of the bills were introduced by Republicans, who control both chambers of the legislature.

House Bill 1213, sponsored by Rep. Steve Jarvis of Davidson County, would allow drivers to get a regular or provisional license without a road test through Sept. 30, if they meet all other requirements and if a parent or guardian accepts financial liability.

Senate Bill 843 is more targeted; it would waive the requirement for a road test for a Level 2 provisional license, which is available to teens 16 and 17 who have held a learner’s permit for at least a year. The Level 2 license allows a teen to drive unsupervised between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. or when going directly to or from work or volunteer fire or EMS service. A driver who took advantage of the waiver would have to pass a road test before getting a Level 3 provisional license, which comes with fewer restrictions.

Senate Bill 843 has three primary sponsors, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown of Onslow County.

“Unfortunately the DMV hasn’t found a way to address the concerns of individuals who have gone through the process required in order to get a license and now they are being held up by the DMV,” Brown wrote in an email. “We have heard from a number of constituents with kids that need to get their licenses so they can get to and from their summer jobs.”

Brown’s bill would expire when DMV resumes offering road tests and would provide $200,000 to allow busy driver’s license offices to remain open longer to “accommodate increased demands following closures and delays due to the COVID-19 crisis.”

That last provision is important, Jodi Lewis said, because it’s not easy to get a road test because of crowding at the DMV under normal circumstances. She says she understands why the DMV has suspended road tests.

“I get it. They don’t want to risk their safety,” she said. “I’m just glad to hear that they’re looking at alternative options.”

Two other bills introduced Wednesday take on related issues.

House Bill 1189 would declare that students who completed at least 20 hours of driver’s education by March 16 would have met their classroom driver’s ed requirement; students with less than 20 hours would be given credit if they pass a proficiency exam. The bill also requires students enrolled in driver education this spring to take six hours of behind-the-wheel instruction to earn a driver education certificate and would allocate $10 million to help school districts provide it.

And Senate Bill 833, introduced by Sen. Carl Ford of Rowan County, would temporarily reduce the time requirements that teen drivers must wait before moving from a learner’s permit through the two levels of provisional licenses. For example, a teen must have a learner’s permit for a year before qualifying for a provisional license; this bill would cut that time to six months.

The goal is to account for the time teens have lost in the licensing process because of the pandemic and keep them on track to qualify for a provisional license when they turn 16, as long as they’ve met all the other requirements. Senate Bill 833 would apply to teens who turned 15 after March 1 and would expire June 30, 2021.

The General Assembly has already given drivers a break from some DMV requirements because of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the coronavirus relief bills Cooper signed into law earlier this month added five months to the expiration date of any license, permit, registration or other credential issued by DMV and waived all fees, fines or penalties for not complying with the old date.

The extensions apply to any DMV credential that expires on or after March 1 and before Aug. 1.