North Carolina (NC) — 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 North Carolina (NC), intermediate minimum age is 16; nighttime restriction is 9 p.m.-5 a.m; passenger restriction is no more than 1 passenger younger than 21; night restriction lifted is licensed for 6 months or age 18, whichever occurs first (min. age: 16, 6 mos.); passenger restriction lifted is licensed for 6 months or age 18, whichever occurs first (min. age: 16, 6 mos.), verified against its source on 2026-09-15.
- State
- NC verified
- State name
- North Carolina our reading
- Learner minimum age
- 15 verified
- Mandatory holding period
- 9 months verified
- Supervised driving hours
- 60 hours, 10 of which must be at night verified
- Intermediate minimum age
- 16 verified
- Nighttime restriction
- 9 p.m.-5 a.m. verified
- Passenger restriction
- no more than 1 passenger younger than 21 verified
- Night restriction lifted
- licensed for 6 months or age 18, whichever occurs first (min. age: 16, 6 mos.) verified
- Passenger restriction lifted
- licensed for 6 months or age 18, whichever occurs first (min. age: 16, 6 mos.) verified
- Exceptions and footnotes
- Footnote 53: In North Carolina, driver education is required for permit applicants younger than 18. | Footnote 54: In North Carolina, learner’s permit holders may not drive between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. for the first six months. | Footnote 55: In North Carolina, driver education is required for license applicants younger than 18. | Footnote 56: In North Carolina, a person who is at least 16 but younger than 18 must complete a minimum of 12 additional hours (six of which must be at night) of supervised driving to obtain a full provisional license. | Footnote 57: In North Carolina, when the license holder is driving the vehicle and is not accompanied by a supervising driver, there may be no more than one passenger under 21 years of age in the vehicle. This limit does not apply to passengers who are members of the license holder's immediate family or whose primary residence is the same household as the license holder. However, if a family member or member of the same household as the license holder who is younger than 21 years of age is a passenger in the vehicle, no other passengers under 21 years of age, who are not members of the license holder's immediate family or members of the license holder's household, may be in the vehicle, except that one other passenger under 21 years of age who is not a member of the license holder's immediate family or member of the license holder's household may be in the vehicle when that passenger is a student being driven directly to or from school. 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
NC | 15 Footnote 53 , Footnote 54 | 9 months | 60 hours, 10 of which must be at night | 16 Footnote 55 , Footnote 56 | 9 p.m.-5 a.m. | no more than 1 passenger younger than 21 Footnote 57 | licensed for 6 months or age 18, whichever occurs first (min. age: 16, 6 mos.) | licensed for 6 months or age 18, whichever occurs first (min. age: 16, 6 mos.)
— iihs.org, retrieved 2026-09-02
Source
- iihs.orghttps://www.iihs.org/topics/teenagers/graduated-licensing-laws-table