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SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns will be able to take the written driver's license test in five new languages starting in January: Spanish, Portuguese, Tongan, Vietnamese and Mandarin Chinese.
The new language options are thanks to SB216, a law the Utah Legislature passed unanimously earlier this year. The law requires that the test be offered in the top five languages spoken in the state other than English.
"It's an issue of public safety," said Sen. Luz Escamilla, who sponsored the law. "We were seeing a lot of struggling families spending a lot of money as they were failing and taking the test again. These were people taking classes. Many of them did benefit from the process of trying to learn all this in English, but I was more concerned about the public safety part of making sure people were actually comfortable and that there was full comprehension when taking the test."
Christopher Caras, Driver License Division director, said the state has been using new technology to help lower the costs associated with initially translating the test as well as translating updates.
"One of the challenges with offering testing in multiple languages that made it very prohibitive in the past was the costs associated," Caras said. "If you can use technology, (the cost) is fairly reasonable. But to use a human translator becomes expensive."
Other states that offer driver's license tests in multiple languages estimate costs to be about $50,000 per language each year just for ongoing maintenance, he added. Utah, in contrast, is on track to stay within its $50,000 budget for all five language translations, Caras said.
Caras said it's still too early to tell what the demand will be for the new languages since the division has never tracked people requesting to take the test in languages besides English.
"It's a grand unknown," he said. "The first year will be critical (for) us identifying that demand."
The new language options apply to individuals renewing or getting an original class D license. They do not apply to the driving component of the test nor tests for driving privilege cards, which are available to newly arrived or undocumented immigrants who do not meet the documentation requirements to obtain a driver's license.
The Utah Driver License Division worked with the state's Division of Multicultural Affairs to determine which languages are offered.
"Increasing language access for the driving license exam is an inclusive policy that not only considers Utah's linguistically diverse population, but also helps keep roads safer for everyone," said Nubia Peña, Division of Multicultural Affairs director.
"This law also highlights Utah's commitment to being an inclusive and welcoming state that values the growing diversity found here."
