While most Georgia residents were focused on the reopening of businesses that were allowed in the Governor’s Executive Order issued April 23rd, teenagers around the state were paying special attention to another part of the order which waives the requirement for most automobile road tests until the public state of emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic is lifted.
According to reports from the Georgia Department of Driver’s Services, 19,483 teens have upgraded their learner’s permit to a provisional driver’s license with the consent of their parent or responsible adult on the DDS website. Susan Sports, DDS Public Information Officer, said Thursday this number was gathered Tuesday and is the most recent that is available.
“These teens held a permit for a year and a day and complied with all Georgia’s mandatory driver education requirements including Joshua’s law and an additional 40 hours of supervised training with six hours being at night,” Sports said.
According to DDS, anyone 16 to 18 years old who meets the requirements can get their regular license without taking the test as long as the Governor’s State of Emergency Executive Order is in place. If you’re over 18 and have a learner’s permit, you can also skip the driving test.
“With this decision, we are putting faith in the parents to attest that the teen has completed the supervised training when applying for the waiver,” said Sports.
The waiver can be found on the DDS website.
Officials said any driver over 17 with no current license or permit must still schedule an appointment to take a knowledge exam. And applicants for motorcycle and commercial driver’s licenses must still take a road test.
Sports said this waiver policy runs in conjunction with the Governor’s Executive Order. “If the order is extended, this runs with it. If the order is lifted, this policy change will be lifted.”
As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, DDS has given 60-day extensions to hundreds of thousands of people whose licenses expire before June 30. Residents age 60 and over received 120-day extensions.
