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PEOPLE with beach chairs, straw mats and books to read waited in the predawn hours for the doors to open.
Teen-agers rush to beat
driver's-education ruleThe new laws
By Crystal Kua
Star-Bulletin"It's like a concert," said Jeffry Hossellman, one of those in line at 5 a.m. yesterday.
But Hossellman and other parents like him weren't waiting to get prime concert seats or after-Christmas store bargains. They were standing in line so their teen-age children could try to get their driver's licenses before a new law takes effect Jan. 1.
The law will increase the minimum age for obtaining a learner's permit to 15-1/2 and a driver's license to 16.
But it also will require driver's education for all prospective drivers under 18, which is what many teens -- and their parents -- are hoping to avoid because of the time and cost involved.
"I'm a good teacher -- and I'm cheap," said Hossellman, who was with his 15-year-old son, Chris, yesterday at Oahu's busiest driver's licensing station, on Dillingham Boulevard.
A total of 30 hours of classroom instruction and 50 hours of adult supervised driving will be required. Driver's-education fees could be as high as $250.
Current law requires a 90-day waiting period between getting a permit and taking the road test. So for teens who received their permits after Sept. 29, Friday is the last day to take the all-important road test or they won't make the end-of-year deadline.
Iolani student Keone Nakoa just made it, turning 15 on Sept. 25, the same day he received his permit. "I just didn't want to go through driver's ed because it takes a lot of time. I play a lot of sports and don't have time."
His mom, Sandy, said her son did undergo a driver's-education program after he got his permit.
"To make sure I passed," said Keone Nakoa, who was all smiles and showing off his new license after passing his road test.
Hossellman said when he arrived at the site at 5 a.m., he was the 30th person in line. He had to step out of line after two hours because when the office opened he didn't have one essential thing -- his son.
But when he returned with his son later, he found out that the extraordinary measures he took earlier to assure his son a road-test slot weren't necessary because the lines were moving along. By early afternoon, they were waiting for their number to be called.
"Everybody is showing up early to beat the nonexistent rush," Chris Hossellman said.
Alan Miyamura, city chief licensing examiner and inspector at the Dillingham station, said the number of road tests given has gone up 25 percent in the last couple of months.
The city normally gives 3,000 road tests a month and in November, that number went up to 4,000.
But while the volume increased, the lines haven't been too bad, he said.
That's because the city has hired five contract examiners to help with the crunch and other employees also have pitched in, Miyamura said.
"We're trying to do the best we can," he said. "Our people have been doing a good job."
But Miyamura said he hopes parents will wait until next year because the driver's-education requirement is designed to save the lives of a group of drivers -- those between 15 and 25 -- who are involved in more crashes than any other age group. "It's hoped with the driver's education, the system will produce safer drivers."
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