Changes coming to North Carolina learner’s permit program

NORTH CAROLINA — North Carolina teens will soon have to get more practice behind the wheel before getting a driver’s license.

Starting on Jan. 1, teen drivers will need to keep their level 1 learner’s permit for nine months instead of the current six months before they can get their level 2 provisional license.

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Those changes to the Graduated Driver Licensing program won’t grandfather anyone in. That means if a teen currently has their level 1 permit for six months but doesn’t take the road test by the end of the year, they will have to wait until they hit nine months to take the road test.

Since 1997, North Carolina teens have been required to keep their level 1 permits for 12 months before getting their level 2 license. The state legislature temporarily shortened the requirement to six months during the COVID-19 pandemic.

That 6-month requirement was extended through 2023. The requirement will be permanently changed to nine months beginning Jan. 1.

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Teen drivers seeking a level 2 license must:

Be at least 16 years old
Log 60 hours of driving time
Pass a road test
Show printed proof of insurance in the teen driver’s name

Recent crashes involving teens

This comes as north carolina teens will soon have to get more practice behind the wheel before getting a license.

In just the last month, Channel 9 has covered three serious crashes involving Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students.

One crash claimed the life of a 15-year-old girl from Garinger High School. An 18-year-old soccer player from Rocky River High School was killed in another crash.

The latest crash happened Thursday morning in SouthPark. Thankfully, everyone survived. Three students from Myers Park High School were inside an SUV when police say, the driver crashed into another car and flipped.

The students are OK, but two adults in the other car went to the hospital with serious injuries.

The importance of ‘seat time’

Channel 9′s Hannah Goetz spoke to a driving instructor who said practice time, or “seat time,” is crucial to safe driving for the rest of a young driver’s life.

“Minimum a year of seat time behind the wheel with your permit. I think that’s where it should be,” Brendon Short said. “And I would say at least 1,000 hours.”

Short is a regional manager of B.R.A.K.E.S., the driving school started in Concord.

“It is also life and death,” he said. “And if you teach them, get them behind the wheel, seat time is everything. The more experience they have. The safer drivers will be.”

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