State lawmakers approve road test waiver for young drivers during pandemic
State lawmakers signed off Thursday on a bill to allow beginning drivers in North Carolina to obtain limited provisional licenses without passing a driving test administered by the Division of Motor Vehicles.
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The DMV stopped administering road tests in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, causing problems for new drivers seeking to be licensed.
The final version of House Bill 158 is more limited in scope than some earlier versions. The waiver would apply only for beginning drivers age 18 or under who are seeking a Level 2 provisional license, and it will expire when the DMV goes back to offering the tests again.
Drivers would still need to pass a DMV road test to obtain a full Level 3 driver's license.
In addition, said Sen. Ralph HIse, R-Mitchell, students who were enrolled in driver's education courses this spring will be considered to have completed it as long as they finished 15 hours of classroom instruction before March 16. They must also have finished six hours of behind-the-wheel instruction.
Sponsors say it will help reduce the backlog at the DMV when road testing resumes.
The Senate and the House both passed the bill Thursday. It now goes to Gov. Roy Cooper, who has 10 days to sign it, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature.
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