Georgia teenagers skip driving test — and safety experts worry

ATLANTA — Faced with the impossibility of social distancing in a car, Georgia has shut down road tests for teenagers seeking their driver’s licenses amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But pleas from parents led Gov. Brian Kemp last month to waive the road test for teens who had completed driver’s education and other requirements. Now some 20,000 teenagers have obtained licenses without taking a driving test — and state statistics suggest thousands of them might have failed the test if they had taken it.

Safety advocates are worried. Studies show teens are more prone to crashes than more experienced drivers. And traffic crashes are the No. 1 cause of deaths for teenagers.

“My gut reaction when I see that places are allowing teens to forgo the driving test is, ‘Oh my God, why?’” said Rebecca Weast, a research scientist at the Insurance Institute for

Highway Safety. “It’s just such a standard part of becoming a driver that removing it seems kind of odd.”

Some Georgia residents also are concerned. And even some parents whose children have taken advantage of the waiver have mixed feelings.

“Without responsible parenting, it feels like a bad idea to me, too,” said Allyne Patterson of Marietta, whose 17-year-old son received his license last week.

Georgia isn’t the only state waiving driving tests amid the pandemic. Beginning Monday, teens in Wisconsin can request a waiver that would allow them to receive a probationary license without a road test. Nevada is considering a similar move.

In Georgia, Kemp waived most driving test requirements in an executive order last month. Teens must still take a driver’s education course, have a learner’s permit for at least 12 months, complete 40 hours of supervised driving and meet other requirements for a license.

The state Department of

Driver Services said about 30,000 teens are eligible for the waiver, and nearly 20,000 had taken advantage as of late last week.

In a statement about the decision, the department cited “overwhelming requests from the parents of these drivers to continue through the graduated driver’s license process allowing their children to obtain their provisional licenses.”

Patterson said his son took a driver’s education class that included time on the road. He’s been driving with a learner’s permit for a year and a half. He was scheduled to take the driving test recently, but it was canceled three times because of the pandemic.

“He’s had a lot of experience behind the wheel, for an extended period of time,” Patterson said. “I think he would have done just fine on the road test, given the experience he’s had thus far. Had he not [had that experience], there’s no way I would have considered this.”

Peter Hortman’s son will turn 16 later this month. The Marietta man plans to allow him to get a license “the easy way.” But even with a license, “he won’t be out solo until we’re fully confident he’s ready.”

But the waiver has sparked safety concerns. According to the Department of Driver Services, more than 80 percent of driver’s license applicants pass the road test on their first try. But that means nearly 20 percent do not. That would suggest Georgia has awarded driver’s licenses to thousands of teenagers who would have failed the test.

“I wrote the governor, my House and Senate reps today stating that it is not a good idea to issue driver’s licenses to anyone without a test who would normally be required to take a test,” said Tim Martin of Donalsonville. “They can wait to get their license when testing can resume.”

That’s what Alex Epstein, the transportation safety director at the National Safety Council, wants states to do. He said driving is a privilege, not a right. And he said allowing parents to decide whether their children are ready for a license is a mistake.

“Parents are not trained inspectors. They’re parents,” Epstein said. “Some are better than others. Some are more involved than others. Some take the responsibility of driving more seriously than others.”

Weast, the insurance institute researcher, agreed that, without a road test, the burden of determining whether a teen is ready for a license falls on parents. “It’s not the time to be a hands-off parent,” she said.

Kemp brushed aside safety concerns at a news conference last week.

When asked whether the waiver could make the streets more dangerous for drivers, he said: “This team has been focused basically on new norms that we are experiencing, so we certainly appreciate the feedback we’ve gotten. I think it’s very limited in scope.”