Last August, a freight truck pulled an illegal U-turn on a Florida turnpike. As it maneuvered, a car crashed into the broad side of the trailer, killing the three occupants immediately.

Harjinder Singh, an undocumented immigrant, was driving the truck with a California-issued license.

Officials later stated that Singh failed an English proficiency test after the crash. The incident quickly became political fuel as Florida lawmakers moved to narrow driver’s license exams to a single language: English.

That new law takes effect today.

Supporters of English-only exams, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, blamed the incident broadly on immigration policy and California’s lax licensing standards. “You need to be able to read the road signs,” DeSantis wrote on X.

Before the change, Florida offered driver’s license tests in multiple languages – including Spanish and Haitian Creole – depending on location. Some sites also allowed interpreters during testing.

State officials argue the shift is about safety. The Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FHSMV) says the policy is meant to provide “safe roadways for all Floridians and visitors by promoting clear communication, understanding of traffic laws, and responsible driving behavior.”

Detractors see something else entirely – a pretext for broad, discriminatory policy.

“Instead of ‘whites-only’ drinking fountains, now we have ‘English speakers only’ signs,” said Luis Salazar, a candidate for Florida House who previously worked with the Hispanic Services Council helping immigrants navigate Florida’s systems and institutions.

Salazar is concerned about how drastically the policy will impact communities and constrict access to work and human services – “the basics of life,” he said. Adding that it will result in “fines and debt” unnecessarily.

Florida attorney Ashley Elmore Drew made a similar prediction that the law will not increase roadway safety, but will instead increase the number of uninsured and unlicensed drivers, creating a larger hazard and “ultimately hurt everyone.”

More than 30% of Floridians report their household speaks a language other than English at home, with 22% consisting of Spanish speakers.

The new law does not pertain to non-English speakers who already have a license, unless they must take the exam again for renewal.