The provisional license—also known as a probationary or Class D license—is an intermediary step between your learner’s permit and full license. While you still don’t have full freedom to drive with this upgrade to your license, the difference does give you more flexibility when compared to your learner’s permit.
Requirements
Unlike getting a learner’s permit, there is a lot less red tape involved when upgrading to a provisional license. Some of the common requirements include:
- Holding a learner’s permit for between 6-12 months
- Logging roughly 40 hours of supervised driving, with a portion occurring during night
- Having no accidents on your driving record during the period that you held a learner’s permit
- Taking an eligible driver’s education course
- Passing a practical road test
- Completing additional state-specific courses
Your hours of supervised driving should be the simplest element of your qualification since it’s required that permit holders only drive under the supervision of a capable, licensed adult. This training will also inform your performance on road tests. These assessments can be nerve-wracking, but you’ll likely have more than enough experience by the time you’re eligible. Consider: if you practice driving thirty minutes a day over the course of three days a week, you’ll have 48 hours logged at the end of six months.
The upside here is that you don’t need to attempt to get your provisional license once you’re held your permit for the amount of time designated for your state. You can always take more time to become more comfortable behind the wheel. You may also need to bring identifying documents with to verify your identity each time you visit your motor vehicle department.
If you take the licensing process seriously, qualifying for your provisional license should be a walk in the park. From there, it’s only a matter of time before Getting Your Unrestricted License”>you’ll be able to trade it in for an unrestricted license, after which you’ll be free from any restrictions.
