What are the rules for teens seeking a driver’s license in NC? They’ve changed again.
North Carolina lawmakers have again tinkered with the rules for teens seeking a driver’s license under the state’s graduated licensing system.
Starting May 8, teens who obtain a limited learner permit will have to keep it for six months before seeking a limited provisional license, which allows them to drive with fewer restrictions. Teens as young as 15 can get a learner permit if they take a driver’s training course and pass written, sign and vision exams at a Division of Motor Vehicle office.
The limited learner permit allows teens to drive under the supervision of a parent or guardian. For more than two decades, teens needed to drive under the permit for a year before taking the road test that allowed them to move on to the next level.
When road tests were canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers temporarily changed the rules, including reducing the required duration of the learner permit to six months.
The six-month period expired at the end of last year, restoring the 12-month requirement.
Learner permit time requirements
Now, under a bill that Gov. Roy Cooper allowed to become law without his signature, lawmakers have restored the six-month learner permit for the rest of 2023. Starting on Jan. 1, 2024, teens will be required to keep their learner permit for at least nine months before seeking a limited provisional license.
Other requirements remain unchanged. In addition to passing the road test, teens will need to be 16, log 60 hours of supervised driving time and show proof of insurance in their name before they can move up to a limited provisional license.
The limited provisional license allows teens to drive unsupervised between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. or when going directly to or from work or volunteer fire or EMS service. After another six months and logging 12 more hours of supervised driving, a teen can obtain a full provisional license, which comes with fewer restrictions.
How many passengers teens can have
The bill that became law Monday made one other change to the graduated licensing system.
It increased the number of young passengers a teen with a limited provisional license can carry if they are going to or from school. An unsupervised teen driver can now have one passenger under 21 years old who is a family member and another unrelated passenger under 21 who “is a student being driven directly to or from school.”
The DMV has also changed how it schedules customers at its driver’s license offices. Starting May 1, the DMV sees customers by appointment only in the mornings; after noon, customers see a DMV agent on a first-come, first-served basis. Walk-in customers are also welcome in the mornings, but people with appointments take priority.
This story was originally published May 8, 2023 at 11:26 AM with the headline "What are the rules for teens seeking a driver’s license in NC? They’ve changed again.."
