Bill Targets Frequent Test-Takers at DMV

Examiner Raj Bhandari finishes some paperwork before test taker Oscar Martinez drives a car out of the Arlington County DMV's parking lot. (By Gerald Martineau -- The Washington Post)
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In the 2006-07 fiscal year, 31 DMV employees who administer tests were injured in accidents, reporting $136,000 in workers' compensation claims. The state did not break down how many of those injuries involved frequent test-takers.

Virginia passed a law last year that requires motorcycle-license applicants who fail the road test twice to complete a safety training course. The latest proposal would expand that idea to applicants seeking licenses to drive cars.

The DMV issued 181,000 learner's permits and 343,000 new driver's licenses last year. Almost 39,000 applicants failed one of the two tests at least once, according to DMV statistics.

Lon Anderson, director of public and government affairs at AAA Mid-Atlantic, whose membership area includes Maryland and Virginia, supports the bill.

"It sounds like a wise administrative move to cut down on costs and deal with some people who clearly have some issues," he said.

More than 33,000 applicants failed the written test once, 2,600 failed it five times, 282 failed it 10 times, 19 failed it 20 times and three failed it 30. About 5,500 applicants failed the behind-the-wheel test once, 68 failed it five times, and one person failed it 10 times.

A vast majority of the people who fail are adults. People younger than 19 have to complete a certain number of hours of in-class and behind-the-wheel training, but older applicants do not.

Keith Vance, owner of Keith's Consolidated Driver Education in Burke, offers a two-hour training course for adults that includes transportation to the DMV so that students can use one of Vance's school cars for the test. But, he says, he receives calls just about every day from people who don't own a car but want to pay him for a ride to the DMV without taking a class. Vance refuses.

"Everyone needs the training," said Vance, an instructor since 1962. "No one needs to take the test four, five and six times."

The school has 28 instructors who taught more than 3,000 adults and teens last year. It is one of almost 50 schools listed on the DMV Web site for classes in Northern Virginia. Prices vary widely at the schools depending on the offered courses, which can cost up to $450. Most cost $50 an hour or $75 for a two-hour class.

Under current law, applicants can take the written and behind-the-wheel tests an unlimited number of times as long they don't try more than once a day. Each test costs $2.

The written test, which consists of identifying 10 road signs and answering 25 questions, must be passed to get a learner's permit. Applicants who miss more than five of the questions fail.

After 30 days, a driver with a learner's permit can take the behind-the-wheel test, which takes about 20 to 30 minutes and consists of a series of maneuvers.

Sometimes, Rollins says, applicants get so upset that she and other employees have to explain that they cannot answer questions or show them how to do something. Applicants who do not perform a single moving violation pass the test.

"Usually people complain about the DMV," Hugo said. "But in this case, people are abusing the DMV."