North Carolina lawmakers agree to temporarily waive DMV road tests for teens
Teens who haven’t been able to get a provisional driver’s license during the COVID-19 outbreak would get some help from bills approved this week by the House and Senate.
Both bills would temporarily waive the requirement that teens pass a road test for a provisional license, provided they meet all the other requirements. The House version, House Bill 1189, also would reduce the number of hours of classroom instruction needed to qualify for a learner’s permit for students who couldn’t finish classes this spring.
The House bill passed 107-13 late Wednesday. The Senate passed its bill without dissent early Thursday afternoon.
The Division of Motor Vehicles stopped offering road tests in March, except for commercial driver’s licenses or for medical exemptions, in an effort to prevent the spread of corovavirus. The DMV hasn’t set a date for when those tests will resume but hopes it will be by the end of the month, according to spokesman Steve Abbott.
State law requires teens to pass a road test to receive a Level 2 provisional license. That license allows teens 16 or 17 years old 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.
The Senate’s legislation, which was inserted into House Bill 158, says a driver who took advantage of the road test waiver would have to pass one before getting a Level 3 provisional license, which comes with fewer restrictions. The House version does not include that stipulation.
Meanwhile, the Senate bill does not address classroom driver’s ed. The House bill would reduce the required hours of classroom instruction from 30 to 15 for students who were enrolled this winter, though teens are always able to get around that requirement by passing a state proficiency exam.
The two chambers will have to work out their differences before a single bill is sent to Gov. Roy Cooper. The road test waivers in both bills would expire when the DMV resumes offering the tests, or, in the case of the House version, within 180 days of becoming law.
Neither bill addresses the road test requirements for first-time licensed drivers who are 18 or older and not seeking a provisional license.
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 12:08 PM.
