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Norita works to implement driver education law
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Posted on May 06 2008
Public Safety Commissioner Claudio K. Norita is working on the implementation of a law that will require all first-time driver license applicants to undergo driver education at a DPS certified school.
DPS spokesperson Lei Ogumoro said yesterday that Norita and Bureau of Motor Vehicles director Juana Leon Guerrero collaborated with Driver Training Academy’s Richard Puhalla to complete the driver education project that began in August 2006.
Public Law 15-25 or the Mandatory Driver Education Act of 2006 was enacted on May 5, 2008. The Act’s rules and regulations have been submitted, approved, and adopted. The enforcement of the Act is slated to commence on June 2, 2008.
Ogumoro said that, when that occurs, all first-time driver license applicants will be required to complete 30 hours of classroom and six hours of laboratory instruction at a DPS certified school.
Similary, she said, the students will need to log 24 hours of additional behind-the-wheel practice accompanied by an adult who is licensed to drive in the CNMI.
The students’ ability to parallel park will also be evaluated.
The age requirement for enrollment in a driver education course is 15 and a half years.
However, Ogumoro said, no student will be issued a driver’s license prior to reaching his or her 16th birthday.
P.L. 15-25 also mandates that individuals wishing to obtain a license to drive a taxi must complete the course as well as anyone whom the court considers to be a repeat traffic and or DUI offender.
“Finally, those individuals who obtain a learner’s permit prior to June 2, 2008, will be exempt from attending the classes,” Ogumoro said.
