Jorge Jimenez (all names have been changed) got his driver’s license on January 2. When he showed his 15-year-old son, Oscar, that he had aced his DMV test, the look on his boy’s face made all the studying and stress worth the effort. “He was one of the first people to congratulate me. It’s a very special experience when your son is proud of you,” says Jimenez, a 40-year-old farm worker with a bright grin and a strong handshake. Of course, like hundreds of thousands of other undocumented Californians, Jorge and his wife Celia have in actuality been driving for decades. The Pescadero couple own a Toyota and a Ford Expedition, and they use them to drive to work, to ferry their three kids around town, and for family trips to Santa Cruz for groceries. You can’t get around the South Coast without a car. But a legal license only became an option on January 1, 2015, when a new law, AB60, came into effect. Jimenez was not only the first Puente driving student to pass his test, he was one of the first in the state. Thousands have followed, crowding DMV locations and making test-taking appointments harder to get as a result. More than 1.4 million California residents are expected to apply in the next three years. “I tell people, don’t let this … Continue reading Newly licensed drivers take to roads with pride