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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Driver License Division has more than doubled the number of languages in which residents can be tested for a driver's license.
The division told lawmakers Monday that collaboration with other state agencies has brought the total number of foreign language offerings up to 13. The languages currently offered are Spanish, Tongan, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Arabic, Swahili, Dari, Ukrainian, Korean, French, Tagalog and Somali.
In January, the division began allowing Utahns to take the test in the top five languages spoken in the state other than English following a 2022 bill allowing the change. Another bill this year paved the way for the division to add even more languages.
Christopher Caras, Driver License Division director, said the state has administered nearly 22,000 tests in those languages since January, and that pass/fail rates are similar across all languages.
"I think we're seeing great success to the program. We're continually seeking to find more and more avenues to employ technology to improve our ability to provide services to the citizens," Caras said during an interim legislative meeting Monday.
The legislature appropriated $71,700 for the program earlier this year, which Caras said has already been spent on hardware and maintenance for the program. The total cost of the program is about $85,000, with the portion not covered by the Legislature coming from the division's internal funds.
In the future, Caras said the division hopes to add about five new languages each year and translate study materials for the driver's license test into other languages. Those wishing to take the test in a language other than the current 13 can bring a translator to the test but must pay for that translator on their own.
