Another change in North Carolina’s teen driver licensing rules takes effect Jan. 1
The process for allowing teens to obtain a driver’s license in North Carolina has changed several times since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and one final change will take effect soon.
Starting Jan. 1, teens who obtain a limited learner permit to drive will have to keep it for nine months before seeking a limited provisional license, which comes with fewer restrictions.
The change, from six months to nine, is the latest tweak to the state’s graduated licensing system since the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily upended in-person office visits and driving tests in 2020.
The limited learner permit allows teens to drive under the supervision of a parent or guardian. 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 Vehicles office.
Since 1997, when the state adopted the graduated licensing process, teens needed to drive under the permit for a year before seeking a provisional license, which allows them to drive unsupervised between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. To get a provisional license, teens must be 16, have logged 60 hours of supervised driving time, show proof of insurance in their name and pass a road test.
But when road tests were canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic, the General Assembly temporarily changed the rules, including reducing the required duration of the learner permit to six months.
When that six-month provision expired at the end of 2022, lawmakers heard complaints from parents of teens eager to get their provisional licenses as soon as possible. So the General Assembly restored the six-month period in May, but only temporarily.
Supporters of the previous 12-month period argued that it had worked well in helping teens ease into the responsibility of driving on their own. So lawmakers compromised on a nine-month learner permit, starting Jan. 1, 2024.
The learner permit and limited provisional license are part of a three-step process. After another six months and logging 12 more hours of supervised driving, teens can obtain a full provisional license, which allows them to drive unsupervised at all hours.
For information about North Carolina’s teen driver licensing process, including fees and the documents required, go to www.ncdot.gov/dmv/ and search for “graduated licensing.”
This story was originally published December 13, 2023 at 11:31 AM.
