(The Center Square) – As concern for the role of immigrants in traffic fatalities increases following a series of highly publicized incidents, Republicans in the House have taken action with a new bill.
The proposed legislation would create new requirements around English language proficiency for driver’s license applicants.
If passed, the bill would require PennDOT to create an English proficiency test as a prerequisite for drivers. It would also mandate that the written test be administered exclusively in English.
Currently, the written test is offered in several languages, while the behind-the-wheel test is administered in English. The current rules do, and the new ones, would apply to both personal and commercial driver’s licenses.
The bill would also prevent the Department of Transportation, or PennDOT, from issuing driver’s manuals in languages besides English.
In a memo, the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Marla Brown, R-New Castle, and Rep. Joe Hamm, R-Montoursville, said it’s a “major safety concern for obvious reasons.”
“Recently, due to the mass influx of immigrants into the United States, we have continually seen accidents caused in part, due to individuals lacking the ability or desire to learn and effectively speak or recognize the English language,” they wrote.
“We cannot allow drivers who do not understand the English language to obtain a driver’s license within Pennsylvania,” the memo continued. “It is simply too dangerous to all who choose to make the Commonwealth their home.”
The United States did not have an official language until President Donald Trump declared it to be English in a 2025 executive order. English, however, has been the de facto language used in legal contexts and on roadways.
In general, road signs are pictographic, using bold symbols and colors like the universally understood red octagon of a stop sign or the human figure depicted in a walk sign. This ensures that anyone—including non-English speakers, those with dyslexia or other literacy issues, pedestrians, and tourists—can identify signs and make quick decisions as needed. But, Pennsylvania’s roads and highways are also full of written information.
Little data has been collected to support the idea that, among non-commercial drivers, immigrants pose a particular risk to the road. Rather, unlicensed drivers, in general, do.
A 2021 study from the Cato Institute investigated drunk driving incidents and found no correlation between an increased risk for drunk driving death and high undocumented immigrant populations.
The bill has long odds in the Democratic-led House and comes amid a series of nationwide controversies around commercial drivers. The workforce shortage has caused particular strain on the transportation industry. As a result, many have raised concerns about compromises to safety made by fast-tracking commercial licenses and ignoring rules about non-native speakers driving without passing tests in written English.
A few of those incidents have resulted in multiple fatalities and a renewed focus on what critics call “CDL farms.”
