By Leon D'souza

Obtaining a Utah Driver's License just got more convenient. Licensed driving instructors, certified by the Drivers License Division, can now administer skills tests, considerably shortening the waiting period.

According to Mike Shell, owner of the Drive Right Driving School in Sandy, student drivers would previously have to wait for as long as two months to complete the road test required for issuance of an operators license.

"The Commercial School Testing Certification Program has virtually eliminated this wait," Shell said.

Eight commercial school testers have been certified thus far in the Salt Lake area alone.

The program was conceived two years ago at a time when private driving schools were losing money to high schools due to the massive testing backlog at the Drivers License Division.

"Some individuals thought that it would be a good law if the private driving schools could also do the test to help eliminate the wait," Shell said.

The bill was passed in June 2000 at the General Session of the Utah legislature, and went into effect on August 28 that year. Shell's school has since administered nearly 4500 tests. However, he believes that more people can benefit from the service.

"The program is just not well publicized," Shell said.

The licensing division is distributing a pamphlet with a list of certified instructors.

The program is immensely beneficial to the division, which has been able to cut its backlog significantly without dipping into its coffers.

"It makes it so that the Drivers License Division doesn't have to test the student, which means that they don't have to pay the examiner, which in turn means that it actually costs them less, so they make a little bit more money for their budget," Shell said.

If you are required to complete a road test in order to obtain a drivers license, you may make an appointment with one of the following certified instructors:

 

Name	Driving School	Phone	Testing areas
Maria Thomas	Elite Academy	296-0610	Magna
Aperahama Wharemate	ABC	377-6455	Provo
Mike Shell	Drive Right	568-9033	Sandy, West Jordan, Salt Lake
Setema Gali	Drive Right	356-0925	Orem
David Erickson	Advantage	209-5074	Sandy
Phu Nguyen	Dan's Driving School	363-0935	Salt Lake City
Darlene Stewart	Bonneville	250-9335	West Valley
Brandy Krogh	Oquirrh Hills	250-3062	West Valley

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