Critics say law will disproportionately affect immigrant communities and those who speak limited English
As of 6 February, people in Florida are no longer be able to take driver’s license examinations in any language other than English, the Florida department of highway safety and motor vehicles (DMV) said in a statement.
Before the change, exams for noncommercial driver’s licenses were offered in multiple languages, including Spanish, Haitian Creole and Portuguese, while the commercial learner’s permit and commercial driver’s license knowledge exams were both offered in English and Spanish. Now all driver’s license knowledge and skills testing will be conducted in English.
“Florida’s decision to administer driver’s license services only in English is a harmful and unnecessary barrier that will disproportionately impact immigrant communities and other Floridians with limited English proficiency,” Keisha Mulfort, deputy director of communications for the ACLU of Florida, said in a statement. “Access to a driver’s license is not a luxury; it is essential for everyday life, including getting to work, taking children to school, attending medical appointments and safely meeting basic family needs.”
I drove in Austria and Germany for work a few times. After a day or two, you pick up enough words on signs to understand “Entrance” and “Exit” and “One way”, but between the symbols and the English on everything, it is probably much easier for us to drive there than for a non-English speaker to drive here. I bet most immigrants learn “No turn on red” faster than “No Parking Enforced on Alternating Wednesdays and Saturdays except on Holidays from 6:00 PM to 12:45 AM”.
In any case, speaking English is not required of citizens. Tests were offered in Spanish because of a need for it. It’s not that they cannot learn to read a few signs, it’s that the written portion of the test needs to be clearly communicated. The ADA requires that illiterate adults be provided with an audio test or interpreter, because it’s more important for people to understand the test than it is for the government to bully immigrants to score political points with bigots.