Maryland Provisional License: Rules, Restrictions, and Next Steps

A Maryland provisional license is the middle stage of the state’s graduated driver licensing system. You can get one at 16 years and 6 months old after holding a learner’s permit for at least nine months with no moving violations, and you keep it until you’ve gone 18 consecutive months with a clean record, at which point the MVA converts it to a full license automatically.¹ Along the way, the license comes with a nighttime curfew, a passenger limit, phone restrictions, and a zero-tolerance alcohol rule for anyone under 21.

How to Qualify

You need to be at least 16 years and 6 months old and to have held your Maryland learner’s permit for a minimum of nine months with no moving violations or probation before judgment. A conviction or PBJ during the permit phase restarts that nine-month clock from the date of the disposition.²

Before the skills test, you have to finish a certified driver education course: 30 hours of classroom instruction plus six hours of behind-the-wheel training with a licensed instructor.³ You also have to log supervised practice in the MVA’s Rookie Driver Practice and Skills Log, signed by a qualified supervising driver on every entry.

The practice hour requirement depends on your age:

Under 25: at least 60 hours of supervised driving, with a minimum of 10 hours at night, on top of the six instructor hours.
25 and older: at least 14 hours of supervised driving, including three at night.

The signed log has to be submitted to the MVA before you can schedule the skills test.³

What You Can and Cannot Do

The heaviest restrictions apply to provisional drivers under 18. A few rules apply to everyone under 21 regardless of age.

Passenger Limit

For the first 151 days on the provisional license, drivers under 18 cannot carry passengers under 18 unless a qualified supervising driver is also in the vehicle. Immediate family members are exempt, so younger siblings can ride without a supervisor present.¹ After 151 violation-free days, the passenger restriction drops. It’s enforced as a secondary offense: police can’t pull you over for it alone, but they can cite you for it after a stop for something else.

Nighttime Curfew

Provisional drivers under 18 cannot drive between midnight and 5 a.m. unless one of the following applies:¹

A licensed driver at least 21 years old with three or more years of experience is riding with you.
You are driving to or from a job or an official school activity.
You are driving to or from an organized volunteer program, an athletic event, or related training.

If you’re on the road during curfew hours under one of these exceptions, keep documentation with you. A work schedule, a letter from an employer, or proof of the event makes a traffic stop far less complicated.

Phone and Device Rules

The electronic device rules split by age. Provisional holders under 18 cannot use any wireless communication device while driving, and that includes hands-free calls and voice-activated systems.⁴ Provisional holders 18 and older face a narrower rule: no handheld phone use, but hands-free calling is allowed. Texting while driving is prohibited for every Maryland driver.

Alcohol Zero Tolerance

Maryland’s strict alcohol rule covers every driver under 21, not only provisional holders. You cannot drive with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.02 or higher, and even the smell of alcohol on your breath during a stop can trigger a violation.⁵ A violation carries criminal penalties and administrative sanctions through the MVA, and it’s one of the fastest ways to lose your driving privileges entirely.

Who Counts as a Supervising Driver

Several provisional rules turn on the presence of a qualified supervising driver. That person must be at least 21 years old, have held a valid driver’s license for at least three years, and be currently licensed for the class of vehicle you’re operating.⁶ They ride in the front passenger seat. A parent is the most common choice, but any adult who meets the three criteria qualifies.

What Happens if You Get a Ticket

A moving violation on a provisional license triggers consequences that stack, and they hit harder than the equivalent violation would for a full license holder.

Any single moving violation automatically requires you to complete the MVA’s Driver Improvement Program.⁷ Failing to complete the course leads to suspension. The same violation also resets your 18-month clock for the full license. If you were at month 17, you go back to month zero.¹

Maryland’s point system runs alongside these provisional-specific penalties and applies to every driver:

3 to 4 points: warning letter from the MVA.
5 to 7 points: mandatory Driver Improvement Program.⁷
8 to 11 points: license suspension.⁸
12 or more points: license subject to revocation.

The gap that catches provisional drivers off guard is at the low end. Even a violation worth one or two points triggers the Driver Improvement Program and the 18-month reset, penalties that don’t reach a full license holder until five points. Serious offenses like fleeing an officer or driving uninsured can result in longer suspensions or outright revocation.

Insurance takes a hit too. A single speeding ticket for a teen driver can raise a family’s premiums by 20% to 25%, on top of the higher baseline that adding a teen already creates. Non-moving citations like parking tickets don’t appear on motor vehicle reports and don’t affect premiums.

Moving Up to a Full License

You have to maintain a clean driving record for 18 consecutive months. No convictions and no probation before judgment for any moving violation. Any violation restarts the 18 months from scratch, regardless of your age or how much time you had already banked.¹ For drivers under 21, the record also has to be free of alcohol-related offenses.⁹

Once you clear the 18 months, the MVA converts your provisional license to a full license automatically. No new test.⁹ You can order the updated card online or pick it up at an MVA branch.

Coming from Another State

If you move to Maryland with a valid out-of-state license, the MVA issues you a provisional license, and the length of the provisional hold depends on how long you had already been licensed:¹

Licensed less than 6 months: 18-month provisional hold.
Licensed 6 to 12 months: 12-month provisional hold.
Licensed 12 to 18 months: 6-month provisional hold.

Drivers who have held a valid out-of-state license for more than 18 months generally qualify for a full Maryland license without a provisional period. During any provisional hold, the same clean-record rule applies. One moving violation and you’re back to a fresh 18 months.

1
Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration. Rookie Driver – Provisional License
2
Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration. Rookie Driver – Learners Permit
3
Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration. Rookie Driver Practice and Skills Log
4
Justia. Maryland Code, Transportation Article, 21-1124 – Prohibition Against Use of Wireless Communication Device While Driving by Minor Holding Learners Permit or Provisional License
5
Maryland Department of Legislative Services. Guide to Drunk and Drugged Driving Laws
6
Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration. Maryland Graduated Driver Licensing System Brochure
7
Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration. Driver Improvement Program
8
Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration. Point Accumulation
9
Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration. Rookie Driver – Drivers License