U.S. English Chairman Tells Motor Vehicle Departments:

Give Holiday Gift, Keep Non-English Proficient Drivers Off the Road

With the holiday season fast approaching and drivers hitting the road in record numbers, U.S. English Chairman Mauro E. Mujica implored government officials to ensure that licensed motorists are proficient in English.

“Our leaders must realize that in the United States, road safety starts with English,” said Mujica. “Especially as states put an increasing reliance upon digital message signs, it is the licensing authority’s duty to ensure that drivers can understand these warnings. Memorizing shapes and patterns is of no use when motorists encounter notices of congestion, weather warnings or Amber Alerts. Furthermore, non-English proficient individuals may find themselves detained at sobriety checkpoints because of the language barrier.”

In recent years, states have been licensing non-English proficient drivers at record rates. More than 90 percent of states allow motorists to take their license exam in languages other than English, including 13 states that offer the test in 10 or more languages. According to research by U.S. English, Inc. California’s test is offered in the most languages, 32, followed by Massachusetts (25), and Kentucky (23).

“The United States is a better place because our residents can speak languages such as Yiddish, Albanian and Tongan,” said Mujica, who is fluent in three languages and is studying three others. “But when it comes to operating multi-ton pieces of machinery moving at 60 miles per hour, proficiency in a common language is necessary to avoid catastrophe.”

New legislation would come too late for a North Carolina family of five, who were killed in a fiery crash last summer when a non-English proficient truck driver ran a stop sign. Though the driver had been licensed by the State of Utah, police were unable to converse with him without the help of a translator. In addition to five counts of vehicular homicide, the driver was charged with being unqualified to hold a commercial drivers license because he lacked the ability to “read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public.”

Mujica called upon the states to institute much tougher licensing procedures, including the requirement of English proficiency for those who take to the road. “Language ability is as important toward the safe operation of a vehicle as visual and cognitive ability. Let us address the impairment of limited English proficiency before tragedy strikes again.”

U.S. English, Inc. is the nation's oldest and largest non-partisan citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States. Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, U.S. English, Inc. (www.usenglish.org) now has more than 1.8 million members.