The pandemic has upended many aspects of day to day life, including teenagers who get their first driver’s license.
It’s a rite of passage in Virginia. Teenagers who are about to get their first driver’s license show up at the local courthouse, where a judge gives them a lecture about the importance of being safe on the road. For many, it’s the first experience at a courthouse and the first time seeing a judge.
Delegate Emily Brewer vividly remembers her driver’s license ceremony at the Suffolk County Courthouse.
“Your parents usually go with you, and it’s the first day you’re going to get your driver’s license and hit the road," she says. "So it’s very much almost like you’re entering into adulthood.”
But these days, teenagers are entering adulthood in an era of COVID. That’s why she’s introducing a bill to change the code from requiring those ceremonies to allowing them.
Alexandria Sheriff Dana Lawhorne says it’s a good temporary fix.
“Anything that allows us to reduce the number of people who can enter the courthouse is a good thing," says Lawhorne. "Permanently eliminating this particular ceremony I do not think would have a positive effect.”
When all this is over, he says, lawmakers should return to the code and change the “may” back to a “shall.”
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
