Washington (WA) — 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 Washington (WA), intermediate minimum age is 16; nighttime restriction is 1 a.m.-5 a.m. secondary enforcement; passenger restriction is first 6 months—no passengers younger than 20; second 6 months—no more than 3 passengers younger than 20 secondary enforcement; night restriction lifted is licensed for 12 months or age 18, whichever occurs first (min. age: 17); passenger restriction lifted is licensed for 12 months or age 18, whichever occurs first (min. age: 17), verified against its source on 2026-09-15.
- State
- WA verified
- State name
- Washington our reading
- Learner minimum age
- 15 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
- 1 a.m.-5 a.m. secondary enforcement verified
- Passenger restriction
- first 6 months—no passengers younger than 20; second 6 months—no more than 3 passengers younger than 20 secondary enforcement verified
- Night restriction lifted
- licensed for 12 months or age 18, whichever occurs first (min. age: 17) verified
- Passenger restriction lifted
- licensed for 12 months or age 18, whichever occurs first (min. age: 17) verified
- Exceptions and footnotes
- Footnote 76: In Washington, permit applicants must be enrolled in driver education; otherwise, the minimum permit age is 15, 6 months. | Footnote 77: In Washington, applicants younger than 18 are required to complete driver education. The state is phasing in a new requirement that will extend this age to applicants younger than 25. | Footnote 78: In Washington, intermediate license holders with a crash or violation history are ineligible for an unrestricted license until age 18. 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
WA | 15 Footnote 76 | 6 months | 50 hours, 10 of which must be at night | 16 Footnote 77 | 1 a.m.-5 a.m. secondary enforcement | first 6 months—no passengers younger than 20; second 6 months—no more than 3 passengers younger than 20 secondary enforcement | licensed for 12 months or age 18, whichever occurs first (min. age: 17) | licensed for 12 months or age 18, whichever occurs first (min. age: 17) Footnote 78
— iihs.org, retrieved 2026-09-02
Source
- iihs.orghttps://www.iihs.org/topics/teenagers/graduated-licensing-laws-table