Pennsylvania Graduated Driver Licensing

The following requirements apply to all 16- and 17-year-old junior license holders:

All junior driver’s license holders are restricted from driving between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., unless accompanied by a parent, guardian or spouse who is a licensed driver and is at least 18 years of age. Second, there are mandatory sanctions against all high-risk drivers under the age of 18, regardless of whether they hold a permit, a junior license or an unrestricted license. A junior license holder's operating privileges will be suspended for 90 days if he or she accumulates six points or is convicted of a single high speed violation (26 miles per hour or more over the speed limit). Third, all drivers under 18, regardless of the type of license they hold, must ensure the number of passengers in their vehicle does not exceed the number of seat belts.

Can junior license holders drive after 11 p.m. if they have a job that requires them to travel or return home after that hour?

Yes, provided the junior driver has a certificate of authorization or affidavit from his or her employer documenting the work schedule. Junior drivers should keep this documentation with them at all times. This exception to the nighttime driving restriction also applies to teens involved in fire fighting or volunteer, charitable service, who must also carry the same type of documentation.

Is a junior license holder able to obtain his/her full, unrestricted license before the age of 18?

Yes. The earliest age that young drivers can qualify is 17 ½. These drivers must have held a junior driver's license for at least one full year, remained crash- and conviction-free, and completed a state-approved driver's education course to qualify for an unrestricted license before the age of 18.

Does everyone under the age of 18 have to get parent or guardian consent to get a license? Can only a parent give consent to drive?

Individuals under age 18 must get the consent of a parent, official guardian, person officially designated as acting in loco parentis or a spouse age 18 or older to get a driver's license.

What is Pennsylvania Graduated Driver Licensing?

What is Pennsylvania GDL? Pennsylvania Graduated Driver Licensing is a system for phasing in on-road driving, allowing beginners to get their initial experience under conditions that involve lower risk and introducing them in stages to more complex driving situations.

Take some time to watch the Young Drivers video here. See if your teen likes this video. If they do, they will love our Pennsylvania graduated driver licensing program.

We begin with combining the in-class with the behind-the-wheel training process concurrent with one another. Then we add more hours behind-the-wheel to give the new drivers an opportunity to experience all four seasons and weather conditions under a controlled risk factor. We take away the 6 hour driver training clock and base achievement and graduation on performance, skill and experience.

Remember when we were trying to teach our new teenagers as if we were traveling on a two-lane dirt road at 35 MPH, when our average traveled speed in Pennsylvania exceeds 55 MPH on a six-lane highway? Most families had a single vehicle in the fifties and sixties, and then to two vehicles in the seventies. The days of driving on weekends with mom and dad for the first year or two is over. In today’s hectic schedules, we are not allowing ourselves time to protect our Pennsylvania teens and teach them to drive as we should be. Parents need to realize that as the times change we must keep pace with that change.

Our driving generation, 35 to 50 years old, will be remembered as the worse driving generation in the history of the vehicle. We average 40,000 fatalities per year. Our generation needs to change the way we think and teach Pennsylvania graduated driver licensing.

If you look closely, you'll realize we spend about 12 years on basic education, reading writing, math, history and physical education…and only 6 hours behind the wheel training in a vehicle.

We need to be remembered as the generation that created the best Pennsylvania drivers in history. The generation that did something about the way we think and teach driver training. We need help from every mom and dad to complete this goal. We need to invest our time in our teenagers and take the time needed to teach our children to drive better.

This could mean as much as 1 or two years of guidance. And to do this you will need the very best Pennsylvania curriculum and training videos available. You will need to allow Pennsylvania graduated driver licensing to become part of your families dinner conversation and sharing experiences on new intersections, changes on the interstate on ramps or maybe a lost of a fellow student friend.

Pennsylvania Driver education and training is no longer a project to hire out to the local driving school. Parents need to get involved and stay involved for at least two or three years. Placing driving restrictions and hours on when a new driver is allowed to drive and with whom. This, in essence, is Pennsylvania Graduated Driver Licensing.