Georgia Teens Who Received Driver’s Licenses Will Have to Take Road Tests

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp listens to a question from the press during a tour of a temporary hospital at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Ga., on April 16, 2020. Ron Harris/AP Photo

Georgia teenagers who received driver’s licenses without passing road tests will have to pass a test within the next several months or risk forfeiting the license, according to updated rules.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s April executive order let teens obtain the licenses without the customary road test as part of a number of efforts to try to prevent the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Kemp’s May 12 order clarified the requirement, saying teens still have to take the tests.

The Republican told reporters the plan all along was to have the teens take the test eventually.

“We just wanted to clarify that,” Kemp said during a press conference, WSB-TV reported. “Anybody who has gotten the driver’s license but hasn’t taken the test—even if they’ve met the criteria of so many hours on the road and went to driver’s school—they’re still going to have to come back and take the driver’s test.”

Cars in a parking lot in Lilburn, Georgia, on April 24, 2020. Tami Chappell/AFP via Getty Images

Tens of thousands of teen drivers obtained licenses without taking the road test, the broadcaster reported.

Kemp’s new order says that the Department of Driver Services (DDS) shall provide a process for drivers who got a license without completing the test to complete the test no later than Sept. 30.

The test may be administered by examiners riding in the vehicle during the test or “by remote means.”

The Department of Driver Services says in an alert on its website: “The governor’s Executive Order signed on April 23, 2020, for Road Test Waivers was updated on May 12, 2020. The automobile road test requires an appointment and the passing of the modified road test.”

“All drivers are now required to take and pass a modified road test that will be administered at DDS customer service centers,” it stated.