The grid below outlines the provisional license restrictions in your state.

NOTE: This grid deals with provisional drivers licenses – the license between a permit and a full drivers license. If your state doesn’t offer a provisional license (it will be noted in the grid) and you need to know the restrictions of a learners or an instruction permit, contact your DMV.

Your provisional license – which is sometimes called a learners license, junior license, or an intermediate license and might even have an entirely state-specific name such as Arizona’s Class G License – is the license you get after you’ve held your learners permit or instruction permit for a certain period of time and before you’re eligible for your full drivers license. The provisional license offers a few freedoms the learners permit doesn’t and, along with drivers ed and driver training courses, allows you more time to learn driving basics.

Although they’re not identical, provisional license restrictions are similar throughout the nation; they deal mostly with when you can drive and who can ride with you (and under what circumstances).

So, when you see:

• No Night, it means you can’t drive at night.
• Accompanied Night, it means you can drive during those night hours as long as a licensed parent, guardian, or other adult accompanies you.
• Passengers, it means your state places restrictions on factors such as who can ride with you, their ages, and their relationship to you.
• Seatbelts, it means your state requires you and everyone in the vehicle with you to wear a seatbelt.

Keep in mind that because the restrictions vary by state, this grid isn’t all encompassing. For example, if one of your state’s provisional license restrictions is that you can’t drive at night, you’ll still need to find out during which hours exactly you aren’t allowed to drive.

Too, your state might pass a law or an event might happen that adds or omits a restriction. You can learn about these restrictions when you take a drivers ed course, read your state’s driver handbook, and regularly visit your state’s DMV website.

	No Night	Accompanied Night	Passengers	Seatbelts
Alabama	x		x		Offers only a Learners Permit with additional restrictions for ages 16 and 17
Alaska		x	x
Arizona		x	x		Unaccompanied night driving for school, employment, religious activities, family emergencies
Arkansas		x		x
California					California’s provisional permit acts as a regular learners permit
Colorado					Offers only a Minors Instruction Permit
Connecticut					Offers only a Learners Permit
Delaware					Offers only a Learners Permit
Florida		x			Unaccompanied night driving for job
Georgia	x		x
Hawaii					Offers only a Learners Permit
Idaho			x	x
Illinois					Offers only an Instruction Permit
Indiana					Offers only a Learners Permit
Iowa		x	x	x	Waiver for unaccompanied night driving for work
Kansas		x			Restricted day driving; unaccompanied night driving for school, work, religious activities, farm
Kentucky					Offers only an Instruction Permit
Louisiana		x
Maine					Offers only a Teen License
Maryland		x	x		Unaccompanied night driving for school, work; no cell phones
Massachusetts		x	x
Michigan		x			Unaccompanied night driving for school, work
Minnesota		x	x		Unaccompanied night driving for school, work
Mississippi		x
Missouri		x		x	Unaccompanied night driving for school, work
Montana	x		x
Nebraska		x			Unaccompanied night driving for school, work
Nevada					Only offers an Instruction Permit.
New Hampshire	x		x	x
New Jersey	x		x		Unaccompanied night driving for school, religious activities; no cell phones
New Mexico					Offers only a Learners Permit
New York	x		x
North Carolina	x		x		Unaccompanied night driving for school, work; no cell phones
North Dakota					Offers only an Instruction Permit
Ohio		x			Unaccompanied night driving for school, work
Oklahoma		x	x		Unaccompanied night driving for school, work, religious activities
Oregon		x	x		Unaccompanied night driving for school, work
Pennsylvania	x
Rhode Island		x
South Carolina		x	x
South Dakota			x
Tennessee		x	x	x	Intermediate Restricted/Unrestricted; unrestricted allows unaccompanied night driving
Texas	x		x		Night driving allowed if school, work, emergency; no cell phones
Utah			x		Unaccompanied night driving for school, work, farm assignment, emergency
Vermont			x		Can’t be employed to drive
Virginia					Offers only a Learners Permit
Washington					Offers only an Intermediate Drivers License that acts as a learners permit
West Virginia					Offers only an Instruction Permit that acts as a learners permit
Wisconsin		x	x
Wyoming	x		x	x	This is for the Graduated Drivers License; state has several permits below this one; contact your DMV
Washington DC	x		x	x	This is for Graduated Drivers License; state has several permits below this one; contact your DMV