- Video shows driver's in the Ashwaubenon area
- The Wisconsin Department of Transportation D.M.V. started the Road Test Waiver Pilot Program in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The program ended on December 31, 2023.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation D.M.V. started the Road Test Waiver Pilot Program in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m Katlyn Holt and with no legislative action to make the program permanent, the beginning of 2024 also brought the end to the pilot.
A change for new drivers.
“a little nervous but excited,” said Lardinois, “[There’s a] person there I don’t know.”
Leia Lardinois is sixteen years old and learning to drive.
She says the re-introduction of an in-person road test brings a few different feelings up.
"Are you like intimidated by the thought of having to take a physical test a little bit?" I asked Lardinois.
“Yeah, there's definitely some nervousness there. But I’m excited for it as well.,” said Lardinois.
The Road Test Waiver Pilot Program began in May of 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It allowed for drivers ages 16 and 17 who had met the requirements: holding a learner's permit for 6 months, completing 30 hours of classroom instruction and additional hours of behind the wheel training with a driving instructor, and logging 50 hours of driving with a parent or guardian, to skip the road test and move directly to a probationary graduated driver's license.
On the Department of Transportation’s website, the Deputy D.M.V. Administrator, Reggie Paradowski said, "Wisconsin D.M.V. launched this innovative pilot program to continue to meet our customers' needs as we all faced tremendous challenges during the pandemic..."
In an email from the D.M.V. they said they found no negative effect on driver safety for the pilot and authorized approximately 169,460 waivers.
For teens like Leia, she says learning to drive can be challenging but she learned to push through it.
“Don't give up because I got like, really nervous at one point and I kept going,” said Lardinois.
15 year old Madison Losey is working towards getting her license.
"I feel like younger drivers struggle with speeding a lot as well as kind of obeying like traffic signs and stuff like that just because they don't fully know," said Losey.
She says she has mixed emotions on the mandatory road test.
"I think it's a good thing and a bad thing, depending on the person because you could be going in there overly anxious and not knowing if you have if you're going to pass or fail even though you are excellent driver, or you could be going in there and being a bad driver and just not getting your license because of that," said Losey.
Click herefor more information for teens to follow to obtain their driver's license.
