Driver License Division expands language access and learning tools to improve licensing compliance

Chris Karas, director of the Driver License Division, told the committee the division is expanding tools and language options to reduce barriers to licensure and to improve test success rates. What the division reported: the state maintains a two-step approach for first-time drivers (learner permit followed by a skills test) and annually updates the traffic-safety knowledge test to reflect trending crash causes (for example: speeding, impaired and aggressive driving). The division has published videos for every on‑road maneuver tested in the skills exam and launched an interactive “virtual handbook” that prioritizes the sections on basic driving and rules of the road. Language access: the division said it now supports knowledge testing in English plus 15 additional languages, selected with input from the Governor’s Office of Multicultural Affairs and public-health partners, and that the state can use interpreters where technology is not available (interpreted tests would be at the applicant’s expense). Karas said test‑maintenance costs for translated questions are far lower in Utah than estimates he received from peer states because of internal technology and interagency cooperation. Education and next steps: the Driver License Division said it will continue to refine readability of test questions (targeting roughly an eighth‑grade reading level where feasible), include at least one DUI-consequence question per knowledge test, and post online materials that demonstrate testing requirements so applicants can be better prepared for a single successful visit. Ending: Karas said the division will continue to roll out materials and that staff can respond to requests for further data on test outcomes by language and by reason for non-licensure.