California Provisional License Rules: Passengers, Night and Phones

California provisional license rules apply to every driver licensed before age 18. For the first 12 months, a teen may not drive between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., or carry passengers under 20, unless a licensed parent or guardian, a licensed driver 25 or older, or a licensed driving instructor rides along. Separately, no driver under 18 may use a phone while driving, even hands-free, except to call for help in an emergency.

These rules come from the Brady-Jared Teen Driver Safety Act, Vehicle Code 12814.6, and the DMV repeats them in its handbook and its Fast Facts sheet on provisional licensing. Here is what each rule means in daily life, and what parents can do about it.

California provisional license rules: the restrictions at a glance

The DMV's Teen Driver Roadmap puts it simply: "When you are under 18 years old, you are considered a provisional driver for the first year." The law also requires the original issue date to be printed on the license.

Can a 16-year-old drive friends in California?

Not during the first 12 months, if the friends are under 20, unless a qualifying supervisor is in the car. The rule is about the passengers' age, not the number of passengers. A friend who is 20 or older is not covered by the passenger limit.

Read the exceptions closely. They in the law let a teen drive at night, or drive an immediate family member. No signed note lets a new driver carry friends. Even a younger brother or sister under 20 counts as a passenger, unless the teen carries the parent's signed note described below.

Who can supervise a provisional driver?

Vehicle Code 12814.6 lists three kinds of supervisor who lift both the night and the passenger limits while they ride along:

An 18-year-old cousin or a 22-year-old sibling does not qualify, even with a valid license. The supervisor has to ride in the car. A phone call from home does not count.

What are the exceptions, and what must the signed note say?

The law allows a provisional driver to drive between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., or to drive an immediate family member, without a supervisor in a few cases. Each one applies only when reasonable transportation is not available and the teen driving is necessary. Except for emancipated minors, the teen must carry a signed statement:

Keep the note in the car with the license, and write a real end date on it. A note with no date does not meet the requirement.

Is there a California teen driver curfew?

The state rule is the 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. limit during the first 12 months. The DMV's provisional licensing sheet adds that local laws may further restrict or prohibit driving during certain hours, so check the rules where your teen drives. Picture a closing shift at work that ends at 11:15 p.m. The drive home is covered only with the employer's signed note or a qualifying supervisor in the car.

When do the provisional restrictions end?

The night and passenger limits run for the first 12 months after the provisional license is issued. The phone ban runs until the driver's 18th birthday, because Vehicle Code 23124 applies to every driver under 18.

Any penalty runs its full course. The DMV says you must serve the full term of any probation, restriction or suspension even if you turn 18 before it ends, and the handbook repeats that turning 18 does not erase existing restrictions, suspensions or probation.

What happens if a teen breaks the rules?

A police officer may not stop a car only to check whether a teen is breaking the night or passenger limits. If the teen is stopped for something else and is found in violation, the court orders community service or a fine. For a first offense, that is 8 to 16 hours of community service or a fine of up to $35. For later offenses, it is 16 to 24 hours or a fine of up to $50. A conviction for this rule does not add a violation point.

Other tickets and at-fault collisions carry more weight for a provisional driver. Under the same law and the DMV's provisional licensing sheet:

Parents also hold a backstop the DMV points out: a parent or guardian may cancel a teen's license by filing a Request for Cancellation or Surrender of a Driver License or ID Card. The DMV's teen page asks parents a direct question: "Does my teen know I can cancel their license at any time and for any reason?"

The phone rule lasts until 18

The passenger and night limits end after a year. The phone rule does not. Vehicle Code 23124 says a driver under 18 shall not drive while using a wireless phone or electronic wireless device, "even if equipped with a hands-free device." The only exception is a call for emergency help. That means no calls through the car's speaker and no texting by voice. Our California cell phone law guide explains the adult rules and the fines.

Tips for parents in the first year

The DMV publishes a Parent-Teen Driving Contract you can print and sign together. It covers telling a parent the destination, the passengers and the return time, calling home if plans change or the teen will be more than 30 minutes late, seat belts for everyone, and an agreement from the parent to pick the teen up at any hour, no questions asked, if driving home is not safe. Add the provisional rules to it in your own words: who may ride, the latest drive home, and where the phone goes.

Before the license, the DMV's teen page suggests asking whether you have practiced at night, in bad weather, in heavy city traffic, on the freeway and in a center left turn lane. If the answer is no, use the remaining supervised practice hours for those. The full order of steps is in our teen permit timeline.

How we prepare teens for the solo year

The first months alone are the riskiest. That is why our teaching method uses graduated exposure: quiet streets first, then traffic, then highways and night or rain practice. In the teen 6-hour training, lesson 3 adds highway merging, hazard scanning and a mock drive test. After each lesson, parents get written notes on what to practice next, so the supervised hours prepare for the situations a new driver will face alone.

We model the provisional rules in our own car too. During a lesson, a student may not use a handheld device or bring a passenger who has not been approved.

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