District of Columbia (DC) — graduated driver licensing: night, passenger and solo-driving rules
For District of Columbia (DC), intermediate minimum age is 16, 6 months; nighttime restriction is September–June: 11 p.m.-6 a.m. Sun.–Thur., 12:01 a.m.-6 a.m. Sat.–Sun.; July–August: 12:01 a.m.-6 a.m; passenger restriction is no passengers; night restriction lifted is licensed for 6 months or age 21, whichever occurs first (min. age: 18); passenger restriction lifted is licensed 6 months or age 21, whichever occurs first (min. age: 18), verified against its source on 2026-10-07.
- State
- DC verified
- State name
- District of Columbia our reading
- Learner minimum age
- 16 verified
- Mandatory holding period (IIHS table)
- 6 months verified
- Supervised driving hours
- 40 hours in learner’s stage; 10 hours at night in intermediate stage verified
- Intermediate minimum age
- 16, 6 months verified
- Nighttime restriction
- September–June: 11 p.m.-6 a.m. Sun.–Thur., 12:01 a.m.-6 a.m. Sat.–Sun.; July–August: 12:01 a.m.-6 a.m. verified
- Passenger restriction
- no passengers verified
- Night restriction lifted
- licensed for 6 months or age 21, whichever occurs first (min. age: 18) verified
- Passenger restriction lifted
- licensed 6 months or age 21, whichever occurs first (min. age: 18) verified
- Exceptions and footnotes
- Footnote 9: In the District of Columbia, license applicants younger than 21 must go through the intermediate stage until they have completed it or until they turn 21. The learner's stage is mandatory for the intermediate stage. A nighttime restriction (9 p.m.-6 a.m.) applies in the learner stage. | Footnote 10: In the District of Columbia, drivers younger than 18 who have completed the intermediate stage must continue to comply with the nighttime driving restriction until they turn 18. In addition, these drivers may not carry more than 2 passengers younger than 21. 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
State, Learner minimum age, Mandatory holding period (IIHS table), Supervised driving hours, Intermediate minimum age, Nighttime restriction, Passenger restriction, Night restriction lifted and Passenger restriction lifted
The source prints these values inside the passage below but does not name them there. The passage shows where each one appears; what ties them to this record is the position on the page, not anything the passage says.
DC | 16Footnote 9 | 6 monthsFootnote 9 | 40 hours in learner’s stage; 10 hours at night in intermediate stage | 16, 6 monthsFootnote 10 | September–June: 11 p.m.-6 a.m. Sun.–Thur., 12:01 a.m.-6 a.m. Sat.–Sun.; July–August: 12:01 a.m.-6 a.m.Footnote 10 | no passengersFootnote 10 | licensed for 6 months or age 21, whichever occurs first (min. age: 18)Footnote 10 | licensed 6 months or age 21, whichever occurs first (min. age: 18) Footnote 10
— iihs.org, retrieved 2026-10-07
Source
- iihs.orghttps://www.iihs.org/topics/teenagers/graduated-licensing-laws-table