CARY, N.C. – A suspended driver on Thursday said she will lose her job if she isn't able to get her driver license back.

Lisa Bricker's license was suspended three years ago after a DWI charge. She paid her fines, completed all other punishments, and was scheduled to take her behind-the-wheel test on March 15. It was the last step to get her license back. Two days before the test, authorities suspended all driving tests due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bricker had just bought a car in anticipation of getting her license back. Instead, she has to continue relying on public transit and rideshare services while still paying taxes and insurance on the car. State lawmakers this spring passed a law that temporarily allows 16 and 17-year-olds to get their licenses without a road test. They did not extend the option to anyone with a suspended or revoked license.

“It's outrageous to me, actually,” she says. “I'm a 27-year seasoned driver, with a three-year lapse, I understand that. But I am still eligible, physically, to drive. I know how to. But I can't because the governor won't sign a bill for us to get our license back as well.”

NCDOT spokesperson Steve Abbott says right now, the agency can't do anything about testing for suspended drivers without legislative approval. The agency is limited to the letter of the law the General Assembly passed.

“If it's signed into law, it's our job to follow that law,” he says.

Abbott says NCDOT legal counsel is investigating whether the ongoing state of emergency gives officials any way around existing licensing laws. They hope to have an answer by the end of the month. As things currently stand, Abbott said NCDOT can't resume road tests until the state enters Phase 3 of its reopening plan. Gov. Roy Cooper this week pushed Phase 3 back another three weeks.

Bricker is currently working from home and is usually able to get where she needs to go with her existing options. Sooner or later though, her employer will bring everyone back into the office. Bricker says once she loses the option to work from home, she will be out of a job. There's no way to take public transit to where she works.