A license. Something nearly every teenager looks forward to. The day where you can drive around aimlessly with the sunroof down and the music blasting; the day where a new type of freedom is introduced to your life, but for

many, this day may be well out of reach.

Due to the recent license back ups in the South Shore, the day in which you go to the RMV, which traditionally falls on your sixteen and a half birthday, might not come until four or five months later. For many teenagers in Scituate, the source of this back up seems to be coming mainly from the Triple A Driving School in Rockland. As residents of Scituate, the once easily accessible Atlantic Driving School which was located on Front Street in the Harbor, is no longer in business, forcing these teenagers to attend driver’s ed all over the South Shore.

When Atlantic Driving School put the permanent closed sign on their door, the open sign at AAA became almost permanent as well. For all of the students who were currently enrolled in the Atlantic Driving School program, the reality of a license turned into a near imaginative thought. Their attendance, test scores, and information were all sent up to AAA in Rockland, and placed behind the other students who had initially started their process with AAA. The immense number of additional teenagers eagerly awaiting the day they get their license has not only created serious problems for the company, but has slowed down the license process for many.

The company is having extreme difficulty finding times for driving hours for all of their students. It is often difficult to reach the local office, with many calls being transferred to the AAA office in Rhode Island. Bob Alves, the operation manager for the Triple A Driving Schools was only able to comment on the topics regarding the license test back ups and was unable to state an opinion in relation to the driving hours. Alves said, “Students are very frustrated. What usually happens is that we book the driving test appointments for them.” This is no longer the case for many, who have to rely on the RMV in order to book their tests. One of the main reasons as to why there is such a backup for driving tests alongside the driving hours is because of the limited number of employees. Alves said, “There is a shortage of help at the registry.” In regards to the scheduling of the driving hours, the AAA office in Rockland could not be reached for comment.

This simple step of making a phone call seems to be the hardest part for most students enduring this process. Junior Amy McQuaid said, “They usually call me when I’m in school so I can’t answer. So I call them back after school and most times I don’t get an answer, so I leave a message and they usually just don’t call me back.”

On top of the miscommunication between employees and customers, the ability to fit everyone into the schedule for the designated amount of driving instructors they have, is one of the main causes of frustration on both ends. Driving hours, also known as practice hours, are one of the necessary steps a candidate needs to complete before they receive their license. A student must complete a total of eighteen hours in the driving school automobile accompanied by an instructor. Junior Daisy Culkins has taken every necessary step in the process of getting her license, but feels as if AAA is making it nearly impossible for her to complete her hours. Culkins, frustrated with the complications, said “I’m going to get my license almost four months after when I can and it’s not even my fault.” On the topic of  how the process of booking driving hours is going, Culkins said, “It is really difficult. I scheduled all of  my driving hours on time and I was all set up to get my license and they just cancelled all of them. Now they are telling me I can’t get them until January or February.”

It is unclear what the real reason is, as to why these driving hours are getting cancelled or mixed up, but one can assume a day in the shoes of a AAA employee is anything but relaxing. Although it may seem like AAA has bit off a  more than they can chew, had they not taken on Atlantic’s current clients, we don’t know what would have happened. Would clients have lost their money? Would students have lost their class credits? One can only imagine.

For those people who underestimated the back up, they have soon realized the backlash of their waiting.

Junior, Jacob Spinzola, said “I went online yesterday to book my driving hours and the next available one is on Dec. 27. I’m eligible to get my license in November.”

For those who originally thought that getting your license would be just another  walk in the park, they  have quickly realized it’s anything but.