Taking Driver’s Test In Slush Can Be A Slippery Proposition

For at least one set of employees, the Valley’s slushy, icy roads meant an easier time than usual.

The folks who take teenagers out on their driving tests.

Employees at the drivers licensing office can accompany as many as 35 would-be drivers a day on their road test.

But last week, applicants for the test slowed to a dribble.

Christine DuMais, 16, was one of the handful who took her test on Tuesday.

In an all-wheel-drive van, she went out for her test with examiner Eve Stone.

“So?” asked her father, Doug DuMais.

“I passed,” said Christine with a thumbs up and a quick smile. “The side streets were really slushy, but I just went slow.”

Last week, during the height of the snow, the driver’s license office at Sprague and Bowdish was like a desert. Empty. Examiners wouldn’t take anyone out unless they had a four-wheel drive or chains.

“It was even slower than we thought it would be,” said Suzanne McGhee, who has worked for the Department of Licensing for 17 years.

Any time a driver loses control of the vehicle - even spinning the wheels - their test stops, McGhee says. “It’s considered a dangerous action.”

Cutting corners? No. Rolling stops, even with a slushy intersection? No way. Not only that, but examiners are under instructions not to push a young driver out of a snowdrift.

“I’m not saying it never happens,” McGhee admits. Especially if the young driver’s position creates a traffic hazard.

But the department’s official policy is that examiners are not to help a driver who is stuck in snow. At times, if they’re close enough to the office, examiners will simply walk back to the office and notify a parent where to find their son or daughter.

Cold-hearted?

Perhaps. But the policy is driven by liability concerns.

Larry Henshaw, owner of the Spokane Driving School, says he’s excited at the chance to get young drivers out on snowy roads where they can learn valuable lessons.

“I’d like to get some adults out, too,” he said.

The snow didn’t slow Jennifer Ressa, another 16-year-old who took her driving test this week. Her incentive was sitting in the driveway at home - a Nissan Pulsar that arrived at Christmas.

“She’s been dying to get in here,” said Suzanne Ressa, her mother, while Jennifer was out on her test. “Just biting the bullet. Thank God, she’s the last one.”

Jennifer came back from her test with good news. Even though she’d forgotten to release her parking brake.

“She’s safe. I wouldn’t have passed her, if she wasn’t,” said examiner Stone.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo