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- #CALIFORNIA DRIVING TEST 2015 HOW TO#
- #CALIFORNIA DRIVING TEST 2015 DRIVERS#
- #CALIFORNIA DRIVING TEST 2015 DRIVER#
He planned to pass on confidence and driving experience. In Culver City, standing in a long line outside the DMV on Washington Boulevard, test-taker Carlos Martinez wasn’t so concerned with the test. “We’re only asking for equality, justice … like other communities, Japanese, Punjabi … they have the audio test,” Solano said. Ultimately, he wants the audio exam translated to Mixteco because of the low literacy rate in that culture. Solano plans to teach basic Spanish to Mixteco speakers, many of whom already have a working knowledge of the language, to pass the behind-the-wheel test.
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They cannot assist during the driving exam.
#CALIFORNIA DRIVING TEST 2015 DRIVER#
DMV officials had told his group Mixteco speakers needed to compose 5 percent of all DMV applicants to have a test provided in Mixteco.Ĭonflicting answers were also provided by the DMV to reporters last week regarding translation services, with the department originally saying in an email, “An employee, interpreter, or translator cannot translate the actual driver license exam for an applicant.”īut the next day the department changed its answer, saying a translator could translate exam questions while a DMV employee documents the answer.
#CALIFORNIA DRIVING TEST 2015 HOW TO#
“They said for now, they don’t know how to do it,” said Juvenal Solano in Spanish, organizer of the advocacy group Mixteco Indigenous Community Organizing Project based in Ventura County, where there is a large indigenous population. Last week, advocates for indigenous language speakers in Mexico were chasing down answers from the DMV because Mixteco speakers were being told they could not use translators to take the written driving exam. That was true for some people who have had a past California driver’s license, but it wasn’t for others,” Wood said. “They told us if you had a California driver’s license in the past, you wouldn’t have to take the behind-the-wheel. Pete Wilson signed a law requiring immigrants to provide the DMV with a Social Security number to apply for a license.ĭMV officials are sifting through old driving records and new applicants, and there’s still some confusion. Some undocumented immigrants have been driving since they were legally allowed to drive in California, before 1994 when Republican Gov. Over the next three years, experts project roughly 1.5 million people will apply for the specially marked cards that specify the identification is for driving purposes only. They also must show proof of California residency through electric bills or similar documents.
#CALIFORNIA DRIVING TEST 2015 DRIVERS#
The majority of people in California without documentation are Latino, many of whom speak Spanish or native languages.ĪB 60 - The Safe and Responsible Drivers Act - signed October 2013, allows people to apply this year for a driver’s license using a federal individual taxpayer identification number and other documents, instead of a Social Security number, which most undocumented immigrants do not have. Complications tend to arise with nonstandard cases - people who had driver’s licenses before and others who speak indigenous Latin American languages. Navigating the labyrinth of DMV lines, appointments, applications, paperwork, fees and, finally, written and road tests hasn’t been the most challenging part of the process. “I know someone who drove all the way to Hemet to take their driving test because they could get one earlier” than in Pomona, Wood said. In Pomona it’s difficult to secure an appointment, causing people to drive to neighboring DMV offices. Wait times depend on the location, and whether people make appointments or stand in line. There’s people that have had complaints about their treatment, like rudeness and that sort of thing, and some people who have had wonderful experiences, that were treated like kings and queens,” said Wood, who leads license study sessions. Aside from a very few exceptions, the agency has been doing a very good job.”Īpplicants report a range of experiences. “But I think they’re (the DMV) doing the best that they can and bending over backwards. “The community still has a lot of questions or concerns,” said Ben Wood, organizer at the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center, which offers driver’s license preparation classes. Language kinks were being untangled last week for Mixteco speakers after confusion over whether translators could assist during the written and driving exam. Some test-takers are showing up at the Department of Motor Vehicles without studying, and some tech-phobes fear the touch-screen test format that allows four minutes for each question. Local advocacy groups are scrambling to address overflowing driver’s license preparation classes. Still, many applicants report a mixed bag of experiences. A month after the rollout of California’s massive effort to issue driver’s licenses to 1.5 million undocumented immigrants, the process is working overall in Los Angeles and the Inland Empire.
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