Teen Driver Rules in the 10 Biggest States, Side by Side

Every state runs some version of a graduated licensing program: you start with a permit, drive with an adult for a while, then get a license with restrictions that loosen over time. The idea is the same everywhere. The details are not, and the details are exactly what the permit test asks about.

We pulled these numbers straight from each state's current driver handbook. If you're studying for the test, the row for your state is worth memorizing.

Getting Your Permit and Getting Out of It

*The Texas Driver Handbook doesn't list a single supervised-hours total. The behind-the-wheel requirement comes with the driver education course you take.

A few things jump out. Pennsylvania asks for the most practice by a wide margin, and it's the only one of these states that specifically requires bad-weather hours. Georgia makes you hold the permit the longest: a full year and a day. Michigan lets you start earliest, but only after you've finished the first segment of driver education.

Curfews for New Drivers

Once you have a provisional or intermediate license, most states still keep you off the road late at night. This is one of the most-tested topics, because the hours differ so much:

• California: no driving 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. for the first 12 months.
• Texas: no driving midnight to 5 a.m. until you turn 18, except for work, school activities or a medical emergency.
• Florida: 16-year-olds can't drive 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.; 17-year-olds can't drive 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. (unless going to or from work, or with a licensed driver 21 or older).
• Pennsylvania: no driving 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. without a parent, guardian or spouse 18 or older.
• Illinois: 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
• Ohio: midnight to 6 a.m. for the first year, then 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. until 18.
• Georgia: midnight to 5 a.m., with no exceptions at all.
• North Carolina: Level Two drivers can drive unsupervised only from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. (plus trips straight to and from work or volunteer fire/rescue duty).
• Michigan: no driving 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. on a Level 2 license unless accompanied or going to work or an authorized activity.

New York is the odd one out. Its junior license rules change by region, and junior drivers can't drive in New York City at all.

Passenger Limits

Crash risk for new drivers climbs with every teenage passenger, so most states cap them:

• Georgia is the strictest: family only for the first six months, then one non-family passenger under 21, then three.
• Pennsylvania: one non-family passenger under 18 for the first six months, then three.
• California: no passengers under 20 for the first year unless a licensed driver 25 or older rides along.
• Illinois: one passenger under 20 (siblings and your own children excepted) for the first year or until 18.
• Texas, New York (junior permit), North Carolina and Michigan: no more than one passenger under 21 who isn't family or a household member, with some exceptions.
• Ohio: one non-family passenger for the first 12 months unless a parent or guardian is in the car.

Phones

Several of these states go further than the adult hands-free rules for teens. Texas bans drivers under 18 from using any wireless device, even hands-free, except in an emergency. Illinois applies the same kind of ban to everyone under 19. North Carolina bans cell phone use for provisional drivers, Michigan's Kelsey's Law covers Level 1 and Level 2 drivers, and in New York a texting or cell phone ticket suspends a junior license for 120 days.

How to Use This

If you're taking the permit test soon, focus on your state's row and your state's curfew and passenger rules. These are exactly the kind of specific numbers the test likes to put in a multiple-choice question with three close wrong answers. Your state's page on this site has more of these rules as sample questions with explanations.

Ready to Practice?

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