20,000 Teens Got Handed A Drivers License Without Taking The Road Test And It's Complete Bullshit
ATLANTA - Around 20,000 newly licensed drivers are on Georgia roads without ever having to take a road test. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the road test was suspended for teens and adults who have met all other requirements.
It's good to know that we're just getting rid of the most important part about the driving test, actually driving. Coley actually touched on this matter the other day and originally I didn't think much of the new law in Georgia.
"Oh whatever, a couple of kids will go out and get their license. It won't be a big deal"
Here I was, like a fool, not realizing that every imaginable teen would eat up a chance to get their license without having to do the driving portion of the test. There was definitely a bit of egg on my face after I saw the headline of the article and find out that 20,000 people are getting their license this way. All in just a little over a week! A B S U R D. Just because there's a global pandemic going on! They couldn't have just made teenagers wait a couple of months? The whole point of being a teenager with a license is so that you can go out with your friends. Other than that it's more or less useless.
All they had to do was pass the written part of the test, have their parents sign off on a sheet that they completed the required 40 hours of supervised driving and *boom*, they're licensed.
Kind of bullshit if you ask me. One might argue I'm only mad because these kids are virtually being handed a license because of a global pandemic meanwhile I'm sitting in bed, furious that I still don't have a license at the age of 19. That is NOT true. If I really wanted a license, I would have one. Alright! Jeez!
All I'm saying is that it's awfully convenient that 20,000 teens had totally completed those mandatory hours in such a short amount of time. It's almost as if the parents are just blindly signing off on these papers so it's not their problem anymore.
From a safety standpoint, this seems wildly irresponsible.
Sarah Casto is a driving instructor with 1st Stop Georgia Driving Academy in Henry County. She says knowing that some people are legally getting behind the wheel without having to pass a road test terrifies her.
She says she worries about the teens but is also afraid for the adults who've never had a license before. She says about one-third of their students are adults.
"They've never driven before and they won't sign up for lessons until they fail the test 3 or 4 times, then they come by lessons. Well now they don't have to do that, they can just go get their license," said Casto.
Not that the driving portion of the test is the best indicator for who's good at driving - some of the worst drivers I know passed that same test - but it certainly weeded out the really shitty ones.
If Spongebob Squarepants never had to take a road test, he would've been licensed in '02. The guy knows everything there is to know about the road/driving in general, just could never put it together on the actual road. Come to think of it, Squarepants was an absolute disaster on the road.
"Ethan, that's just a dumb cartoon"
A) It's not dumb
B) I'm just trying to get the point across
I don't know. Maybe I'm just off base with my take. Maybe I'm missing something and this is actually a tremendous idea that will work flawlessly. It's just not the best idea to send a bunch of inexperienced, untested drivers onto the roads today.
PS - I will say I am a little jealous of Georgia residents (first time that's ever been said, probably). I just want my license so everyone can stop making fun of me already.