their licenses before the increased fees take effect today.
BMV Director Juana C. Leon Guerrero said that due to the huge number of people who filed applications for renewal of licenses, registration of motor vehicles and driver’s written examinations, they had to extend their office hours until last Saturday.
“There are so many applicants and we have our schedules full that we are prompted to extend our office hours until Saturday to accommodate the applicants,” Leon Guerrero said.
Deputy Commissioner Aniceto Ogumoro said they had to lend assistance from the other units in the police force to assist the BMV staff in accommodating the influx of residents who came at the last day.
Ogumoro said they had about seven officers from the Boating Safety, Logistics office, Patrol division, and other divisions to help in the processing of applications.
“This week, especially Thursday and Friday, we have so many applications especially for driver licenses,” he said.
Today, the implementation of a law that will require all first-time driver license applicants to undergo driver education at a DPS certified school takes effect.
Public Safety Commissioner Claudio K. Norita and Leon Guerrero collaborated with Driver Training Academy’s Richard Puhalla to complete the driver education project that began in August 2006.
Public Law 15-25 or the Mandatory Driver Education Act of 2006 was enacted on May 5, 2008. The Act’s rules and regulations have been submitted, approved, and adopted and the enforcement of the Act is slated to commence today.
With the implementation of the Act, first-time driver license applicants will be required to complete 30 hours of classroom and six hours of laboratory instruction at a DPS certified school.
The driving students will also need to log 24 hours of additional behind-the-wheel practice accompanied by an adult who is licensed to drive in the CNMI.
The ability of the students to execute parallel parking will also be evaluated. The Act also states that the age requirement for enrolment in the driver education course is 15 and a half years old but no student will be issued a driver’s license before reaching his or her 16th birthday.
Under P.L. 15-25, individuals who wish to obtain a license to drive a taxi are also required to complete the course as well as anyone whom the court considers to be a repeat traffic and or DUI offender.
