Hello everyone!

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to read my change.org petition. I created this petition to amend NC House Bill 158 to include 18 year old drivers.

There have been several petitions created recently in regards to North Carolina teen drivers unable to obtain their drivers license due to road test restrictions related to COVID-19. Those petitions made it to our General Assembly. The road test requirement has been temporarily waived for 16 and 17 year olds to obtain their provisional license.

This temporary waiver is great and will allow those teens to obtain their NCDL. Having a drivers license is a privilege and also creates independence. Most teens have extra curricular activities, jobs and help their families with day-to-day errands and chores. Being able to do those things independently helps everyone involved.

The issue that my family and others have with NC House Bill 158 is that it excludes 18 year olds. Not every teen gets their permit at 15 years old and license at 16 years old. I have a family member who received their permit in 2019 at 17 years old and has since turned 18 years old during the COVID-19 pandemic. As DMV has restricted road tests, they are unable to obtain their NCDL. If they were 16 or 17 years old, this wouldn’t be an issue and they would be able to obtain their NCDL under NC House Bill 158.

I’m not asking for any special privileges or exceptions, but rather amend NC House Bill 158. This bill should include 18 year olds who have a permit and completed their 60 hour driving log. Their situation is no different than the 16 and 17 year olds that have been allowed to obtain their NCDL under NC House Bill 158.

Thank you again for reading and signing my petition! This means a lot to my family and others in the same situation.

Sincerely,

Alison Davis and family

For more detailed information regarding NC House Bill 158, please see below.

https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2019/Bills/House/PDF/H158v4.pdf

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA SESSION 2019
HOUSE BILL 158 RATIFIED BILL
AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE DIVISION OF MOTOR VEHICLES TO TEMPORARILY WAIVE THE ROAD TEST REQUIREMENT FOR LEVEL TWO LIMITED PROVISIONAL LICENSES AND TO PROVIDE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR DRIVER EDUCATION COURSEWORK INTERRUPTED BY SCHOOL CLOSURES IN THE SPRING SEMESTER OF 2020.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a) Notwithstanding G.S. 20-11(d)(3), the Division of Motor Vehicles shall waive the requirement that an applicant pass a road test in order to obtain a Level 2 limited provisional license if the applicant meets all other requirements to obtain the license.
SECTION 1.(b) In addition to all other requirements for a Level 3 full provisional license set out in G.S. 20-11, a Level 2 limited provisional license holder who receives a waiver under subsection (a) of this section must pass a road test administered by the Division in order to obtain a Level 3 full provisional license.
SECTION 1.(c) This section is effective when it becomes law and applies to applications for provisional licenses submitted on or after that date. Subsection (a) of this section expires on the date the Division resumes administering road tests for Level 2 limited provisional license applicants.
SECTION 2. Notwithstanding G.S.115C-215(b)(1), (2), (4), and (5) and G.S. 115C-216, and the requirements of State Board of Education Policy DRIV-0004, for students enrolled in classroom driver education between January 2020 and March 16, 2020, in a public school or a licensed commercial driver training school, students shall be deemed to have completed all classroom instruction requirements for driver education if the student completed at least 15 hours of classroom instruction prior to March 16, 2020. A student who has not completed at least 15 hours of classroom instruction may be offered the opportunity to take and pass the proficiency examination developed by the Department of Public Instruction, as provided in the State Board of Education Policy DRIV-0004, to waive the classroom instruction requirement. All students enrolled in driver education in the spring semester of 2020 shall be required to complete a minimum of six hours of behind-the-wheel instruction before being issued a North Carolina Driver Education Completion Certificate. Public schools are authorized to resume driver education programs in accordance with guidance issued by the Department of Public Instruction.
*H158-v-4*

law.
SECTION 3. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 15th day of June, 2020.
s/
s/
Ralph E. Hise, Jr.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
Tim Moore
Speaker of the House of Representatives
_____________________________________
Roy Cooper Governor
Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2020
Page 2 House Bill 158-Ratified