District of Columbia (DC) — graduated driver licensing: night, passenger and solo-driving rules
16, 6 months
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 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 2026-09-15.
- State
- DC verified
- State name
- District of Columbia our reading
- Learner minimum age
- 16 verified
- Mandatory holding period
- 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
DC | 16 Footnote 9 | 6 months Footnote 9 | 40 hours in learner’s stage; 10 hours at night in intermediate stage | 16, 6 months Footnote 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 passengers Footnote 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 2026-09-02
Source
- iihs.orghttps://www.iihs.org/topics/teenagers/graduated-licensing-laws-table