COLUMBUS, Ohio--Hoping to stop fraud, the state is adding a few speed bumps for people applying for several types of driver's licenses. Beginning Monday, having a photograph taken and passing a test will be among the first orders of business for anyone wanting a learner's permit, commercial truck license or a motorcycle endorsement for those moving from four wheels to two. The test results will be stored electronically.
"This new procedure will not only reduce paper use and increase efficiency, but also ensure that the person taking the knowledge test, skills test, and the person receiving the license are the same," said Henry Guzman, director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety. Under the old system, teenagers seeking temporary permits, for example, would take their tests, and the examiners would write their scores by hand on notarized documents. The applicant carried the results to a Bureau of Motor Vehicles deputy registrar. Now, the BMV office will receive an electronic record of the grade and will refer to the photo to verify that the test was taken by the applicant, not someone else.
Federal researchers have found that people in at least 32 states, including Ohio, received licenses without completing or even taking their required tests, or after another person provided the answers. Truck drivers in several crashes causing death or injury had obtained their commercial licenses through fraud, authorities said. A 2006 federal study reported that applicants for the commercial truck licenses paid others to take their written exam for them when they were afraid they couldn't pass on their own, were unable to meet the necessary legal residency, or because of they weren't proficient in English, as required.
"We have definitely caught people with forged test scores,"said Lindsay Komlanc, an Ohio BMV spokeswoman. "People are finding new ways every day to get around the system.” She said that includes young people. A group of teens in Cincinnati were too young to drive but still managed to get licenses, Komlanc said.
The new, tightened licensing procedures are going statewide following successful pilot programs in the Columbus and Toledo areas, BMV officials said.
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