California (CA) — graduated driver licensing: night, passenger and solo-driving rules
16
The earliest age your teen may drive without an adult in the car — the intermediate (provisional) licence age. Night-time and passenger limits still apply until the points shown below. From the IIHS graduated-licensing table row quoted on the record page.
For California (CA), intermediate minimum age is 16; nighttime restriction is 11 p.m.-5 a.m. secondary enforcement; passenger restriction is no passengers younger than 20 (limited exception for immediate family) secondary enforcement; night restriction lifted is licensed for 12 months (min. age: 17); passenger restriction lifted is licensed for 12 months (min. age: 17), verified against its source on 2026-09-15.
- State
- CA verified
- State name
- California our reading
- Learner minimum age
- 15, 6 months verified
- Mandatory holding period
- 6 months verified
- Supervised driving hours
- 50 hours, 10 of which must be at night verified
- Intermediate minimum age
- 16 verified
- Nighttime restriction
- 11 p.m.-5 a.m. secondary enforcement verified
- Passenger restriction
- no passengers younger than 20 (limited exception for immediate family) secondary enforcement verified
- Night restriction lifted
- licensed for 12 months (min. age: 17) verified
- Passenger restriction lifted
- licensed for 12 months (min. age: 17) verified
- Exceptions and footnotes
- Footnote 5: In California, students enrolled in driver education may drive while supervised by an instructor. License applicants who do not take driver education must wait until age 18 for a license. They are not required to go through an intermediate license stage. our reading
Values marked our reading are our classification of what the source says — the source does not print them in those words. The quote below is the evidence for each one; judge it yourself.
What the source says
CA | 15, 6 months Footnote 5 | 6 months | 50 hours, 10 of which must be at night | 16 Footnote 5 | 11 p.m.-5 a.m. secondary enforcement | no passengers younger than 20 (limited exception for immediate family) secondary enforcement | licensed for 12 months (min. age: 17) | licensed for 12 months (min. age: 17)
— iihs.org, retrieved 2026-09-02
Source
- iihs.orghttps://www.iihs.org/topics/teenagers/graduated-licensing-laws-table