Iowa (IA) — graduated driver licensing: night, passenger and solo-driving rules
For Iowa (IA), intermediate minimum age is 16; nighttime restriction is 12:30 a.m.-5 a.m; passenger restriction is parental discretion; night restriction lifted is licensed for 12 months and age 17 or age 18, whichever occurs first (min. age: 17); passenger restriction lifted is none, verified against its source on 2026-10-07.
- State
- IA verified
- State name
- Iowa our reading
- Learner minimum age
- 14
- Mandatory holding period (IIHS table)
- 12 months verified
- Supervised driving hours
- 20 hours, 2 of which must be at night verified
- Intermediate minimum age
- 16
- Nighttime restriction
- 12:30 a.m.-5 a.m. verified
- Passenger restriction
- parental discretion verified
- Night restriction lifted
- licensed for 12 months and age 17 or age 18, whichever occurs first (min. age: 17) verified
- Passenger restriction lifted
- none verified
- Exceptions and footnotes
- Footnote 19: In Iowa, the department may issue a special minor’s restricted license to an applicant between the ages of 14 and 18 years if the applicant has completed driver education or demonstrates hardship and has held an instruction permit for at least 6 months. A special minor’s restricted license limits unsupervised driving to specified locations such as work or school within a 25-mile radius. Under this license, drivers may not transport more than one unrelated minor passenger or operate the vehicle except during the hour before and after the beginning and the end of school, work shift or extracurricular activities as applicable. | Footnote 20: Iowa requires a certification of 10 additional hours of supervised driving during the intermediate stage, two of which must be at night. | Footnote 21: In Iowa, driver education is required for an intermediate license and for an unrestricted license if the applicant is younger than 18. | Footnote 22: In Iowa, parents are permitted to waive at the time of licensure a discretionary six-month passenger limit of no more than one unrelated passenger younger than 18, effective Jan. 1, 2014. 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.
IA | 14Footnote 19 | 12 months | 20 hours, 2 of which must be at nightFootnote 20 | 16Footnote 20,Footnote 21 | 12:30 a.m.-5 a.m. | parental discretion Footnote 22 | licensed for 12 months and age 17 or age 18, whichever occurs first (min. age: 17) | none
— iihs.org, retrieved 2026-10-07
Source
- iihs.orghttps://www.iihs.org/topics/teenagers/graduated-licensing-laws-table