Too Hot For Driver's Test, Examiner Tells Motorist
CHICAGO (CBS) – If you're looking to renew your driver's license this summer, you better not skimp on the air-conditioning.
That's what 94-year-old Elizabeth Philipp of Glenview learned Friday when she went to the Illinois Secretary of State's DMV in Niles for her annual driving test and license renewal.
CBS 2's Brad Edwards reports.
She says she was asked: "Do you have air conditioning in the car?"
"I said I do but it's not working," Philipp said. "She says, 'Well, then you come back next week.'"
It wasn't as hot Friday as Thursday's 100-degree peak, but apparently it was balmy enough. And sure enough, Secretary of State's employees have the discretion to decide.
"Any time there's an issue of extreme heat, if there's a determination it's too hot for the driver and/or examiner, we don't test in those conditions," department spokesman Dave Drucker says.
In the end Philipp, who's been driving for 80 years, says she's glad she wasn't singled out. She says her car's air conditioning was scheduled to be fixed this week.
"I suppose it is my fault," she says. "Lesson learned."
As for the rule, Drucker says it's not a hard-and-fast policy depending on temperature, but the determination is made at the local level and Friday was just too hot.
