How to Get a Learners Permit

Ready to Roll With a Learner's Permit

Are you a teen ready to get behind the wheel of a car and start driving? You'll need your learner permit, of course. It's the first step to eventually getting your driver's license. Here's how to get one.

Things You'll Need

• A car
• Brave parents

Instructions

1. **Know the Rules**

   Your friends may be a good source of general information on getting a learner's permit, but the best source of information is your state motor vehicles department.

   Search the internet for:

   learners permit *statename*

   to find the rules and requirements in your state.

2. **Know the Age Restrictions**

   Usually, you have to be fifteen or sixteen years old to get your learner's permit, though the rules vary quite a bit from state to state. In some states, the age limit might be 15 years and 6 months, or similar variations.

   At the time of this writing, age limits were:

   15 years old: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia

   15 years, plus 6 or 9 months: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Wisconsin

   16 years: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.

   Check with your state motor vehicles department (DMV) about learner's permit age requirements, as these may change at any time.

3. **Get Your Folks on Board**

   You'll generally need your parent's consent to apply for a learner's permit to drive. You'll also need an adult who will be in the car with you when you're driving. Mom or dad are good options for this roll, as well.

4. **Get Your Documents**

   You'll need certain identification documents to register for your learner's permit. Usually, a birth certificate is required, and you'll need to know your social security number as well.

5. **Study, Study, Study**

   You'll have to take (and pass) a written exam to get your learners permit. Even if you've done some driving already, do you really know how many feet from the intersection you're allowed to park? Most DMV websites have driver's manuals, practice exams and background materials you can review before your exam. Do it!

6. **Bring Some Cash**

   No...not for bribing them to let you pass the test. But you will need to pay a fee for applying for the learner's permit.

7. Good luck, and drive safely.