Maryland MVA changes learner's permit test to make more equitable for aspiring drivers

BALTIMORE - The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration is making its learner's permit test more equitable for all residents by expanding the language options for applicants.

Some of the tests have also changed to help those with developmental disabilities.

For aspiring drivers, getting a learner's permit is a right of passage that most of us experience as eager teenagers.

Now, the Maryland MVA is widening access to the learner's permit test, which depending on the person, can prove to be hard.

"Governor Moore talks about leaving no one behind, and if you think about it, that learner's permit is really the key to unlocking getting to work, employment, so many opportunities in life, and we take that seriously," MVA Administrator Chrissy Nizer said.

Maryland MVA is expanding accessibility to the test by offering it in nine additional languages, including Portuguese, Russian, Tagalog and even American Sign Language. 

"We first started out, and translated our manual, as well as our law test into plain language, it's just a simple way of communicating."

"The material in the book didn't match the material that was being presented on the actual test," parent Dee Sapp said.

Sapp's 22-year-old son, Lawrence, is a college athlete with autism.

After taking and failing the test once a week for a year, she used her advocacy to expand access to the test for people with developmental disabilities.

Sapp then approached the MVA about this change.

"There's a learning opportunity in all of this," Sapp said. "You know, I'm always looking for, this is the way we can change the system. He wasn't trying to hear that but he sees it."

And they have the results to match the power of their change.

Since revamping the tests, MVA has seen a 15% increase in people passing the exam.

But for Lawrence, it was his instructor who also helped make something like earning the right to drive more equitable.

"Patience, visual aid, re-explaining everything, even if it's a phrase that needed to be explained," MVA instructor Alexis Brown said. "I took the time with him and we made it happen."

"It's not just for my son, because the first one that does anything, has it the hardest," Sapp said.

But now Maryland is making it easier for all walks of life to earn the right to safely and equitably drive on Maryland roads.