Motor Vehicles and Traffic Drivers’ Licenses: Amend Chapter 5 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to Drivers’ Licenses, So as to Provide That Examinations for Drivers’ Licenses Shall Be Administered Only in the English Language; Provide for an Exception; Provide for Usage of Licensed Defensive Driving Courses in Pretrial Diversion Programs; Provide That Certificates of Completion from Unlicensed Courses Shall Not Be Recognized; Provide for Related Matters; Repeal Conflicting Laws; and for Other Purposes.

• Jurisdiction: Georgia,United States
• Publication year: 2010
• Citation: Vol. 26 No. 1

Georgia State University Law Review

Volume 26 . .

Issue 1 Fall 2009 ⁶

10-1-2009

MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC Drivers' Licenses: Amend Chapter 5 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to Drivers' Licenses, so as to Provide That Examinations for Drivers' Licenses Shall be Administered Only in the English Language; Provide for an Exception; Provide for Usage of Licensed Defensive Driving Courses in Pretrial Diversion Programs; Provide That Certificates of Completion from Unlicensed Courses Shall Not Be Recognized; Provide for Related Matters; Repeal Conflicting Laws; and for Other Purposes.

Kevin Morris

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Recommended Citation

Morris, Kevin and Rupp, Christina (2009) "MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC Drivers' Licenses: Amend Chapter 5 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to Drivers' Licenses, so as to Provide That Examinations for Drivers' Licenses Shall be Administered Only in the English Language; Provide for an Exception; Provide for Usage of Licensed Defensive Driving Courses in Pretrial Diversion Programs; Provide That Certificates of Completion from Unlicensed Courses Shall Not Be Recognized; Provide for Related Matters; Repeal Conflicting Laws; and for Other Purposes.," Georgia State University Law Review: Vol. 26: Iss. 1, Article 6. Available at: http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/gsulr/vol26/iss1/6

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MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC

Drivers' Licenses: Amend Chapter 5 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to Drivers' Licenses, so as to Provide That Examinations for Drivers' Licenses Shall be Administered Only in the English Language; Provide for an Exception; Provide for Usage of Licensed Defensive Driving Courses in Pretrial Diversion Programs; Provide That Certificates of Completion from Unlicensed Courses Shall Not Be Recognized; Provide for Related Matters; Repeal Conflicting Laws; and for

Other Purposes.

Code Sections:

Bill Number: Act Number: Georgia Laws: Summary:

Effective Date:

O.C.G.A. § 40-5-27 (amended), 40-581 (amended) SB 67

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The Bill requires that driver's license exams be taken only in the English language. An exception is provided for temporary drivers' licenses, which may be taken in a language other than English. The Bill also requires that defensive driving classes assigned as part of pretrial diversion programs be licensed by the state.

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History

English-only Provision (Section 1)

In Georgia, the Department of Driver Services (DDS) regulates the administration of driver's license examinations.¹ The Georgia driver's license exam has four different parts: the vision test, the road

1. Georgia Department of Driver Services, http://www.dds.ga.gov/index.aspx (last visited Apr. 7, 2009).

158 GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 26:1

rules test, the road sign test, and the driving test. The road rules test (hereinafter the written test) consists of twenty multiple choice questions. Anyone applying to take a driver's license test in Georgia has the option of taking the written test in twelve different languages, including English.⁴ The DDS was responsible for implementing the foreign language option for the written examination.⁵ The road sign test and the driving test, however, are only offered in English.⁶

Proponents of public safety argued that the DDS policy that allows people to take the written exam in a language other than English makes Georgia roads unsafe for motorists, because drivers who take examinations in a foreign language may not be able to read overhead road signs. Although the road sign test is given only in English, supporters were concerned with the inability of drivers not proficient in English to read signs that are crucial to safety that would not appear on the road sign test.⁸ These signs might include warnings such as "bridge out" or "hazardous spill."⁹

Supporters of the English-only written exam asserted that people who drive on Georgia roads but cannot read the English language actually cause accidents; opponents of the English-only requirement, however, criticized this position, and admonished the lack of supporting evidence.¹⁰ Opponents of the English-only requirement explain that rather than making roads safer, "[t]he whole purpose [of the bill] is to stigmatize communities of those people who are

2. Id. (follow "Driver License Information" hyperlink; then follow "Testing Information" hyperlink).

3. Id.

4. Video Recording of Senate Proceedings, Mar. 10, 2009 at 11 min., 16 sec. (remarks by Sen. Jack Murphy (R-27th)), http://www.gpb.org/lawmakers-tv/video-archive (Windows Media Player link mms://mediam1.gpb.org/ga/leg/2009/senate_031009_1P.wmv) [hereinafter Senate Video]. In addition to English, the written driver's license exam could be taken in Korean, Russian, Laotian, Polish, Japanese, Spanish, Bosnian, Arabic, Cambodian, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Id.

5. Id. at 31 min., 11 sec. (remarks by Sen. Jack Murphy (R-27th)).

6. Id. at 37 min., 30 sec. (remarks by Sen. Jack Murphy (R-27th)); Georgia Department of Driver Services, supra note 1 (follow "Driver License Information" hyperlink; then follow "Testing Information" hyperlink).

7. Senate Video, supra note 4, at 11 min., 16 sec. (remarks by Sen. Jack Murphy (R-27th)).

8. Senate Video, supra note 4, at 37 min., 30 sec. (remarks by Sen. Jack Murphy (R-27th)).

9. Interview with Sen. Jack Murphy (R-27th) (Mar. 25, 2009) [hereinafter Murphy Interview].

10. Senate Video, supra note 4, at 20 min., 2 sec. and 47 min., 29 sec. (remarks by Sen. Nan Orrock

(D-36th)).

2009]

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"anti-immigrant and openly hostile towards immigrants." Many Georgians were concerned about the message the English-only requirement would send to foreign companies who have recently

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come to Georgia and are contributing to the local economy.

There have been efforts on the state and national level to support English-only requirements, and on the flip side, to improve access to government services for people with limited English proficiency

(LEP). On August 11, 2000, sitting President Bill Clinton signed an executive order requiring all federal agencies to "develop and implement a system by which LEP persons can meaningfully access those services consistent with, and without unduly burdening, the fundamental mission of the agency."¹⁵ Clinton's executive order rested on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans discrimination based on national origin.¹⁶

On the other hand, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires that drivers be able to read and speak English well enough to understand traffic signs and signals, respond to

official inquires, and complete reports. Some supporters of the English-only requirement for Georgia driver's license exams have

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used this federal regulation to support their position.

Georgia is not the only state that has considered an English-only driver's license provision; Alabama passed its own version of the

requirement. In 1990, Alabama made English the official language of the state by amending the state constitution, and under that amendment, mandated that driver's license exams be administered

11. English-only License Test Close to Approval, supra note 7 (quoting Rep. Pedro Marin (D-96th)).

12. Jerry Gonzalez, Anti-immigrant View Hurts State, Atlanta J.-Const., Apr. 1, 2009, at A12, available at 2009 WLNR 6072062.

13. Senate Video, supra note 4, at 39 min., 10 sec. (remarks by Sen. Seth Harp (R-29th)) (speaking about the new Kia facility coming to the LaGrange area in his district); Gonzales, supra note 12 (explaining that although Kia Motors created 2,500 jobs in Georgia, English-only requirements discourage business by saying to the company "KIA GO HOME. We want your money but not your people.").

14. Exec. Order No. 13,166, 65 Fed. Reg. 50,121 (Aug. 11, 2000).

15. Id.

16. ProEnglish v. Bush, 70 F. App'x 84, 85 (4th Cir. 2003).

17. 49 C.F.R. § 391.11 (1998).

18. Senate Video, supra note 4, at 35 min., 6 sec. (remarks by Sen. Chip Rogers (R-21st)).

19. Alexander v. Sandoval, 532 U.S. 275, 279 (2001).

160 GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 26:1

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only in English. Martha Sandoval represented a class of non-English speaking individuals when she challenged Alabama's

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English-only requirement. Although her claim was successful in the lower courts, the case was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States where the Court dismissed her claim without ruling on

₂₂

the merits of the case.

In 2008, Georgia also attempted to pass a constitutional

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amendment making English the official language of the state. The amendment would have required all driver's license exams to be

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taken in English. The bill did not pass the House because "opponents argued it would be bad for business," citing the potential disadvantage of turning away international companies that wanted to

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do business in Georgia.

Defensive Driving Provision (Section 2)

Some municipal courts in Georgia require convicted traffic offenders to take a six hour defensive driving course and then accept the course for ticket dismissal.²⁶ Many of these courts dismissed tickets for offenders who took defensive driving courses that were not

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licensed by the state. In 2008, the legislature...