Teens’ Struggles to Get Driver’s Licenses During the Pandemic
Over the span of the 2020 pandemic, it has become increasingly difficult for teen drivers to get their permits or licenses due to safety regulations. Many have experienced online issues and quarantine scheduling difficulties because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A sophomore at Del Norte says that when they went to get their permit in October of 2020, they completed the majority of the process online with no issues. Then, they went in person at a local DMV to complete the permit process by taking the written test and having a photograph taken, which required them to take their mask off temporarily. Following this experience, they described the COVID safety measures in place at the time they went: masks were required, but social distancing was not as much enforced.
This sophomore recommends bringing disposable gloves to the DMV, due to the lack of sanitization on commonly touched surfaces.
Another sophomore at Del Norte, Arushi Rai, comments on her experience in December of 2020. She says getting a permit is the first step to being an adult and the process should not be this tricky.
Rai says that the online application process was inconvenient and did not work for her because of the difficulty of uploading documents.
Furthermore, when she went to the in person DMV, the process took two and a half hours. However, Rai did encounter a change in social distancing policy at the time she went during the pandemic.
First, she waited outdoors, but when she went inside the chairs were spread 6 feet apart and everyone wore masks. However, she did report a lack of hand sanitizer in the building.
A junior at Del Norte Alex Zakoor started the application process in August of 2020. Zakoor says he also filled out the online application and had no trouble with the process aside from difficulty navigating the website, which he described as being convoluted. He says he had difficulties with both the in-person driving school and the DMV appointments he scheduled being cancelled due to COVID safety regulations.
Zakoor also said he saw the socially distanced outdoor line and the mask regulations when he went to take his permit test early in December of 2020. He says the process in total took about 45 minutes inside the DMV.
Zakoor says that if it weren’t for the pandemic, he would have had his license by now. Zakoor estimates that he will not be able to get his driver’s license until December 2021, a full year after when he says he expected to receive it.
Zakoor says this is in part because the driving school appointments at Zakoor’s chosen school, AAA, are backlogged 5 months because of the San Diego County-wide shutdown that occurred.
In coherence with the DMV’s effort to keep all customers and staff safe, new safety regulations were enforced to reduce indoor contact. California DMVs also did not offer behind-the-wheel driving tests from December 11, 2020 through the month of January 2021. They have just begun offering them again on February 1st of this year, and drivers can make test appointments on appropriate DMV pages.