Pro & Con: Should driver’s license tests be conducted only in English?

You wouldn’t know that in German, Italian and Spanish you were told “Left Lane Ends” or “Exit Only” or “Bridge Out Ahead.” For non-English-speaking Georgians, our road signs may seem as hard to understand as these foreign phrases are to you.

This is a dangerous problem we can prevent by ensuring Georgia’s driving test is offered in English only. All Georgia drivers should understand the signs that direct and caution on our roads. Senate Bill 67 requires licensing exams be given in one language, English, the same language that all road signs are written in. This is to ensure every driver’s safety.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires drivers engaged in interstate commerce to “read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquires and to make entries on reports and records.”

What is required for the safety of drivers engaged in interstate commerce should be required for the safety of all Georgia drivers. Drivers who cannot read English cannot read warning signs on trucks and highways, read traffic instructions or communicate with police and emergency personnel in the event of an accident.

SB 67 will clear up confusing Georgia driver’s license requirements. Currently, you are in violation while driving under a foreign license for more than a month because it is only valid for 30 days. This bill allows those needing a foreign license to apply for a temporary license in their native language. It is common sense that permanent residents, who intend to make Georgia their home, need to be able to answer, in English, the basic questions asked on this important test.

Recently, a police officer contacted me regarding a traffic citation he attempted to give on I-75. He tried to pull a car over, but the driver simply stopped in the middle of the interstate.

When the officer attempted to communicate with the driver over the loudspeaker, and failed, he had to get out of his car only to learn that this licensed Georgia driver was unaware of the rules of the road and could not understand him well enough to communicate with him during the routine traffic stop — putting the officer and the driver in danger.

We must make Georgia roads safer by requiring those licensed are able to understand road signs and public safety officers for everyone’s safety.

Georgia is one of 30 states to make English the official language of government operations. Despite this law, Georgia’s Department of Driver Services administers tests in 13 other languages, yet road signs are only written in one. According to the U.S. Census, more than 300 languages are spoken in the United States. Requiring English-only driver’s license exams guarantees equal treatment of every language group, not to mention it saves taxpayers money.

Testing in various languages is an added expense to taxpayers because additional testing costs more than simply providing the tests in English. Georgians should not be forced to pay for tests in foreign languages, especially since English is the official language of our state.

Requiring written driver’s license tests be issued in English makes Georgia roads safer and encourages those who intend to make Georgia their home to learn the language of the roads, become self-sufficient and successfully assimilate to American life.

Sen Jack Murphy (R-Cumming) is vice chairman of the Senate Economic Development committee.

NO: For many immigrants, no ability to drive means no work.

By D. BryAnn Chen

Senate Bill 67, the English-only driver’s test bill that makes exceptions for illiterate Georgians, is bad for the women of Georgia and bad for Georgia’s economy.

The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Jack Murphy (R-Cumming), wants the driver’s test to be offered only in English. He says he is acting in the interest of public safety and that drivers who cannot read signs in English will be unsafe drivers.

The test is now offered in 13 languages. There is no data to show that people who take the translated test are less safe than drivers who take the English-only test. The bill also allows illiterate Georgians who cannot read in English or any other language to continue to have assistance in translating the written test.

Georgia is a state with limited public transportation. Lack of driving ability keeps refugee and immigrant women isolated, unable to access jobs, grocery stores and department stores, health services for themselves and their children, and unable to engage in their children’s schools and education.

This is what it’s like for a woman unable to take the driver’s test in her language:

A woman in our program is a refugee from Afghanistan. She came to Georgia fleeing the Taliban. She had no time to learn English before arrival. Her husband has returned to Afghanistan to work as an interpreter with the U.S. military. The driver’s test is not offered in Farsi.

She and their four children, aged 10, 7 and 4 years old and 4 months old, live in Snellville, a city with no public transportation.

Therefore, she is unable to go to English classes, go to the grocery store, to the doctor, anywhere. She relies on her Afghani neighbors to drive her and her children everywhere.

One day in 2009, her child fell ill at school and they asked her to take him home. Her neighbors were at work, so she and two of the children walked five miles to the school. Then they and the sick child walked five miles back. They arrived home in tears.

The driver’s test should be offered in more languages, not fewer.

The refugee and immigrant women in our health promoter program provide health information to others in their ethnic communities.

The health promoters take other refugee and immigrant women to the grocery store, to the health clinic to show them how they can keep their families healthy in their new country.

In all our programs at Refugee Women’s Network, Inc., refugees and immigrants help other refugees and immigrants. But they can only offer this help if they are able to drive.

The refugee and immigrant women entrepreneurs in our MicroEnterprise program start their own businesses, contributing to the economy of the state. They are opening restaurants, retail stores, day care centers and beauty salons.

They all need to drive to meet clients; landlords for their storefronts; suppliers to stock the store shelves and restaurant coolers; consultants to develop marketing materials, and so on. Every business creates a ripple effect of employment for other businesses.

The refugee and immigrant women entrepreneurs we work with may need help translating written materials. But they have good business sense.

A refugee or immigrant woman who cannot take the driver’s test in her own language is trapped in her home, unable to be employed and unable to spend dollars in grocery stores, department stores, restaurants, car dealerships, etc.

A woman with no transportation is unable to become involved in PTAs and unable to take her children to after-school activities.

SB 67 is harmful to women and to Georgia. The Legislature should not pass this bill.

D. BryAnn Chen is executive director of the Refugee Women’s Network, Inc., in Decatur.