Florida allows new-driver test without examiner in the car

Florida’s newest drivers still need to take behindthe-wheel tests to get licenses, but they should expect some changes in the way tests are conducted, at least while the novel coronavirus is still around.

In a memo this month, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said as state offices reopen, road tests will be conducted with examiners outside of the vehicles.

Examiners will use devices such as walkie-talkies or cellphones to dictate instructions to drivers, who will do road tests on a “closed course at the office,” Aaron Keller, an agency spokesman, told The News Service of Florida.

Drivers will need to be accompanied by co-pilots who are licensed and are 21 or older, the memo said. The passengers cannot help the drivers and cannot be driving-school instructors.

The department said the new procedures are designed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus. State and local offices across Florida have been closed since March due to the pandemic, leaving thousands of teens and other new drivers waiting to get their driver’s licenses.

In most of the state, driver’s license services are managed by county tax collectors. While the state has issued new road-testing procedures for its offices, tax collectors will be able to determine when to open and how to provide services, including driving tests, Keller said.