NBC6 met Daniela crying in the hallway of a tax office in Miami last week. Even though Daniela passed her driver’s license exam in Spanish, the state selected her to retake the driver’s test – this time in English.
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has announced that starting February 6, all driver’s license tests will be administered in English only.
But for people like Daniela, an English test would have been a big struggle.
“I understand that we have to adapt to a new place and learn English,” she said, “but it’s not the same to have a conversation in English, which I can do, than it is to answer really long questions on a test… I didn’t feel confident.”
After NBC6 aired Daniela’s story last week, the tax office reached out to explain there was a transition period. Anyone who made an appointment before February 6 could still take the test in another language, as originally planned.
A woman finds she has to take a driving test again as a new English-only driver’s license test rule comes into effect.
On Monday, Daniela reached an important milestone. Once again, she passed her driver’s license exam in Spanish. Now she is a certified driver.
“I passed! I knew I could pass again because I studied and took a four-hour course,” she said. “But if the test had been in English, I probably would have failed.”
If you have not made an appointment before February 6, the tax collector recommends that you study in English, even if you are part of a third-party driving school.
Some government officials claim that the roads will be safer because the driving tests are only administered in English, but experts who spoke to PolitiFact say there is no evidence of this and believe this would only lead to more people driving without a license.
#Woman #affected #Florida #driving #test #change #drivers #license