Maryland’s graduated licensing system moves new drivers through three stages: a learner’s permit, a provisional license, and a full license. You can start at 15 years and 9 months, and if you follow the standard path with a clean driving record, the earliest you can hold a full, unrestricted Maryland license is age 18.
Stage One: The Learner’s Permit
Maryland law sets the minimum age for a learner’s permit at 15 years and 9 months.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Transportation 16-103 – Persons Not to Be Licensed — Minimum Age Requirements To apply at an MVA branch, bring proof of age and identity (a birth certificate or valid passport), your Social Security card, and two documents proving Maryland residency, such as utility bills or bank statements.
If you are under 16, you also need a school attendance record. The MVA will not issue a permit if that record shows more than 10 unexcused absences in the prior semester.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Transportation 16-105 – Learner’s Instructional Permits Applicants who are minors need a parent or guardian to co-sign the identity and school attendance verification form, and that parent can withdraw consent for driving at any point.3MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration. Learner’s Permit
Before the MVA hands you the permit, you’ll take a vision screening and pass a computerized knowledge test drawn from the Maryland Driver’s Manual, covering traffic laws, road signs, and safe driving. The non-commercial permit fee is $65, which also covers the eventual conversion to a provisional or full license.4MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration. License and ID Fees
How You Can Drive on the Permit
You can drive as soon as the permit is issued, but only with a qualified supervisor in the front passenger seat. That supervisor must be at least 21, hold a valid driver’s license, and have been licensed for at least three consecutive years.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Transportation 16-105 – Learner’s Instructional Permits There are no exceptions. A quick trip to the store still needs that adult next to you.
How Long You Must Hold the Permit
If you are under 19, you must hold the learner’s permit for at least nine months before taking the skills test. Applicants who are 18 with a high school diploma or equivalent, or between 19 and 24, only need to hold it for three months. Either way, a moving violation conviction restarts the clock at nine months, running from the date of conviction rather than the date of the ticket.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Transportation 16-105 – Learner’s Instructional Permits
Stage Two: Qualifying for the Provisional License
Two things stand between your permit and the skills test: driver education and supervised practice.
Driver Education
Maryland requires an MVA-approved driver education program with at least 30 hours of classroom instruction and at least 6 hours of behind-the-wheel training with a certified instructor. The provider transmits your completion records to the MVA electronically, so you don’t need to carry a paper certificate to your appointment.
Sixty Hours of Practice Driving
Applicants under 25 must log at least 60 hours of supervised practice driving, with at least 10 of those hours at night, defined as the period from 30 minutes before sunset to 30 minutes after sunrise. You track the hours in the Rookie Driver Practice Skills Log. Each supervising driver signs the log, and a parent or guardian must sign it before you submit it.
The Skills Test
The skills test covers basic maneuvers like parallel parking and reverse turns in a controlled setting. Bring a vehicle that is registered, insured, and safe to drive. In wet or cold weather, the examiner will also check that your windows fully roll up and that your heater, defroster, wipers, and washer fluid all work.5MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration. Prepare for a Driver’s License Test Broken brake lights, dead turn signals, or an expired registration will get you turned away before the test starts.
Living With the Provisional License
Passing the skills test upgrades you to a provisional license. You can drive on your own, but under restrictions built to keep risk low while you gain real experience.
Passengers
For the first 151 days on the provisional license, you cannot drive with any passenger under 18 unless they are immediate family: a spouse, sibling, stepsibling, child, stepchild, or a relative who lives at the same address.6New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code Transportation 21-1123 – Passenger Restrictions for Provisional Drivers Licensees Having a qualified adult supervisor (21 or older, licensed three years) in the vehicle lifts the limit during those 151 days. After the 151-day period ends, the passenger restriction goes away.7MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration. Provisional Driver’s License
Nighttime Curfew
You may not drive between midnight and 5 a.m. unless a qualifying supervising driver is in the vehicle, or you are traveling to or from work, a school-sponsored activity, an organized volunteer program, or an athletic event.
Seat Belts and Phones
Every person in the car must be buckled in or in a child safety seat. Maryland also bans all wireless device use, handheld or hands-free, for drivers under 18, with the sole exception of calling 911 in an emergency. A violation can bring a license suspension of up to 90 days, though the MVA may issue a restricted license permitting travel only to work or school during that period.8Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Transportation 21-1124 – Wireless Communication Devices
Violations While on the Provisional License
Consequences for moving violations are steeper for provisional holders than for experienced drivers, and they scale with age and the number of prior offenses:
- First moving violation, under 18: mandatory Driver Improvement Program, a 4-to-8-hour instructional course.
- Second moving violation, under 18: 30-day suspension, then 90 days of restricted driving (work and school only).
- Third moving violation, under 18: 180-day suspension, then 180 days of restricted driving.
- Second moving violation, 18 or older: 30-day suspension.
- Third moving violation, 18 or older: 180-day suspension.
Speeding, racing, reckless driving, aggressive driving, and negligent driving are treated as high-risk offenses regardless of age. A first high-risk conviction triggers a six-month suspension, and any later high-risk offense brings a one-year suspension.
Alcohol is a separate matter. Drivers under 21 cannot have any alcohol in their system. A first DWI for an under-21 driver brings a one-year license suspension; a second brings two years.9MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration. Driving Under the Influence (DUI)
Stage Three: The Full License
To move from provisional to a full, unrestricted license, you must be at least 18, have held the provisional license for at least 18 months, and have zero convictions during that 18-month period.10MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration. Full Driver’s License
That last requirement is where the process most often stalls. A single moving violation conviction resets the 18-month clock, and the new period runs from the date of conviction rather than the date of the stop. Even a week short of eligibility, a conviction puts you back at the start. Probation before judgment triggers the same reset. Once you clear the age, time, and clean-record bars, all passenger and nighttime restrictions are lifted and the MVA issues a new physical license.
If You Move to Maryland With an Out-of-State Permit
Relocating to Maryland with another state’s learner’s permit does not carry over. The MVA treats you as a new applicant: full documentation, the knowledge test, and the complete graduated licensing process from the beginning. Practice hours and holding time from another state are not credited.11MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration. Get a Maryland Driver’s License or ID Card A full, unrestricted out-of-state license follows a different transfer process and does not send you back into the graduated system.