Georgia driver’s licenses began in 1937

According to history.com, Missouri and Massachusetts first issued driver’s licenses in 1903. The first state to require a driver’s exam and license was Rhode Island in 1919. By 1930, 24 states required a license and 15 had driver’s exams. Georgia was the 43rd state to enact a driver’s license law.

Georgia’s Governor Eurith D. Rivers introduced the legislation for the driver’s license in 1937, but only new drivers were required to take an examination. Governor Rivers received the first driver’s license in the state.

Application forms for a driver’s license could be picked up at police stations, sheriff’s offices, gas stations, and State Patrol offices. The cost was $1 for the head of the family, 50 cents for the next person and 25 cents for minors. (Atlanta Constitution, April 4, 1937, “New state driver’s license law to become effective on July 1”)

A November 1952 Atlanta Constitution article outlines the major issue with Georgia drivers. Two million people were licensed to drive, but 500,000 of those people never took a driver’s examination. They received their licenses before the 1937 law was created.

According to some Chamblee High School alumni, they were able to visit the Chamblee Plaza office of Driver’s Services in the 1960s without a parent present. Today, anyone under 18 must have a parent or guardian, or a responsible adult with them to obtain a license.

Mrs. Jerry Peters (her first name is not identified), president of the Georgia Federation of Women’s Clubs, started a campaign for a driver’s license reexamination test in 1971. Her main concern was how much vision can change over the years. A driver reexamination law was passed in Georgia in 1970 but vetoed by Governor Lester Maddox. When Jimmy Carter became governor, Mrs. Peters sent him a detailed report of her findings on how other states reexamined drivers. She visited those states and took their reexamination tests.

Georgia did not require reexamination unless an individual let their license lapse, or it was suspended or revoked. The way Mrs. Peters saw it, “This is as stupid as going to a doctor when you are 20 and just because you are told you are in excellent health, you never see a doctor again.” (Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 21, 1971, “Many people are driving blind”)

Georgia now requires an eye exam for drivers over age 64 each time they renew their license. This rule went into effect in 2005, but over 64 drivers can submit a vision test from their doctor rather than take an eye exam at the Georgia Department of Driver’s Services. I guess I’ll need to ask my eye doctor for that form!