Indiana BMV to Offer Driver’s Manual in Arabic, Burmese, Chin, and Mandarin

INDIANAPOLIS — Beginning in March 2021, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles will offer the Driver’s Manual in four additional languages: Arabic, Burmese, Chin, and Mandarin.

The decision resolves a lawsuit filed in Nov. 2018 by the Indiana ACLU over the BMV’s failure to provide the manual in languages other than English and Spanish.

The suit was brought by Neighbor to Neighbor, Inc., a South Bend non-profit that assists international refugees and recent immigrants to America.

As part of the settlement, “the BMV agreed to translate the Driver’s Manual into any language in which it offers the knowledge examination ‘if, during three consecutive years, an average of 500 or more different persons took the knowledge examination in that language’,” reports WNDU-TV.

Using the last three years of data, the BMV determined that Arabic, Burmese, Chin, and Mandarin (along with English and Spanish) meets the threshold. 

Indiana BMV already offers the driver’s test in 14 languages.

(Photo by Finwal/Getty.)