Georgia Gov. Kemp Axes Driver’s Test Requirement For Teens, Only Parent’s Consent Needed

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has signed an executive order allowing teenagers in the state to skip the driving test in order to get a license. All that’s required for now is their parents’ consent.

According to CNN, all other requirements before the test must be fulfilled. Once the requirements have been fulfilled, teen learner’s permit holders will be allowed to obtain a provisional license by providing an affidavit from their parent or driving instructor stating they have completed 40 hours of supervised driving.

A clean driving record of at least one year and one day is also required. Permit holders over the age of 18 can sign their own affidavit.

The order will stay in effect until the expiration of the state’s Public Health State of Emergency, which Kemp has extended to May 13.

“During these unprecedented times, the Department of Driver Services is trying to make it as easy as a process for people to get their license and to lessen the burden on people right now,”  Stormi Kenney, who owns a driving school within the state, told Fox 5 Atlanta.

Spencer Moore, Commissioner of the state’s Department of Driver Services¸ said social distancing guidelines currently make it impossible to conduct in-person tests. Additionally, there is a backlog of 30,000 applicants, with an average of 5,000 teens having taken the exam every week prior to the shutdown.

Moore added the pass rate for teens in the state is over 80%.

Kemp’s executive order also outlined how the state will loosen its social distancing requirements which went into effect last week. However, a model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, says the state shouldn’t open up until at least late June.

Even that date assumes the state will implement aggressive testing, contact tracing, isolation, and crowd-size limits to prevent more infections. Although spaces in the state are opening, African American leaders are urging residents to stay home. African American barbers in the state are also weighing health over profits.

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Georgia Gov. Kemp Axes Driver’s Test Requirement For Teens, Only Parent’s Consent Needed

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has signed an executive order allowing teenagers in the state to skip the driving test in order to get a license. All that’s required for now is their parents’ consent.

According to CNN, all other requirements before the test must be fulfilled. Once the requirements have been fulfilled, teen learner’s permit holders will be allowed to obtain a provisional license by providing an affidavit from their parent or driving instructor stating they have completed 40 hours of supervised driving.

A clean driving record of at least one year and one day is also required. Permit holders over the age of 18 can sign their own affidavit.

The order will stay in effect until the expiration of the state’s Public Health State of Emergency, which Kemp has extended to May 13.

“During these unprecedented times, the Department of Driver Services is trying to make it as easy as a process for people to get their license and to lessen the burden on people right now,”  Stormi Kenney, who owns a driving school within the state, told Fox 5 Atlanta.

Spencer Moore, Commissioner of the state’s Department of Driver Services¸ said social distancing guidelines currently make it impossible to conduct in-person tests. Additionally, there is a backlog of 30,000 applicants, with an average of 5,000 teens having taken the exam every week prior to the shutdown.

Moore added the pass rate for teens in the state is over 80%.

Kemp’s executive order also outlined how the state will loosen its social distancing requirements which went into effect last week. However, a model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, says the state shouldn’t open up until at least late June.

Even that date assumes the state will implement aggressive testing, contact tracing, isolation, and crowd-size limits to prevent more infections. Although spaces in the state are opening, African American leaders are urging residents to stay home. African American barbers in the state are also weighing health over profits.

from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/35o1taN

Georgia Gov. Is Slammed After Coronavirus Study Shows Effect On Blacks

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is taking a lot of heat after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study showing African Americans are suffering gravely from the coronavirus pandemic.

The study, released Wednesday, showed African Americans make up a majority of the 297 coronavirus patients reported in the study. Additionally, although African Americans weren’t more likely than any other group to die from the disease or to require a ventilator, according to the study, 83.2% of the patients with coronavirus were African American.

“That is a very high rate of infections,” Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, Howard University president who was not involved in the report told NewsOne.

Frederick added the high percentage of African Americans in the study most likely reflects the occupation of the patients.

“A lot of it may come from the fact that African Americans are essential employees in our system,” he said. “Everything from bus drivers to healthcare workers and cleaning services, they are on the front line, and therefore are far more likely to be exposed.”

The statistics of the study line up with national statistics showing African Americans are dying from the coronavirus at disproportionate rates in states across the country. According to New York Magazine, African Americans in Georgia make up 52% of the coronavirus-related deaths, but only 33% of the population.

Despite the statistics, Kemp has reopened businesses saying the economy needs to be restarted. Kemp has not addressed how he’s going to address the disproportionate effect the coronavirus is having on African Americans.

Now, many are speaking out on social media.

Kemp allowed bowling alleys, tattoo parlors, and nail salons to reopen for in-person business last Friday. By Monday, restaurants were allowed to begin dine-in service.

However, some are choosing to keep their stores closed.

Rapper Killer Mike, who owns a chain of barbershops in Atlanta, said he will keep his stores closed.

“At this time as a business, we aren’t comfortable opening. So we’re going to wait a while before we reopen.” Mike explained that the coronavirus has been hitting the African American community hard and they are the group that his business caters to. “We don’t want our customers and our barbers in danger.”

 

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