North Carolina Keeps 9-Month Learner Permit as Teen Driver Deaths Rise 41 Percent
NC lawmakers shot down a proposal to cut back the learner’s permit as teen driver deaths are on the rise.
Drivers ed sign on car roof at stoplight in daylight
Getty ImagesNorth Carolina lawmakers shot down a proposal to cut back the learner's permit period for teen drivers in 2025. The requirement stays at nine months. Crashes with at least one young driver totaled 5,588 in 2023 nationwide, a 4.8% increase from the previous year.
The state now stands as one of only four in the nation with a nine-month learning period. Child safety advocates pushed back against the 2025 bill. More practice time gives new drivers experience in different weather and road conditions, they argued.
"From a research perspective, the data do not support it being as safe to have a nine-month period as a 12-month period," Justin Owens said to NC Health News. Owens works as a senior research scientist with the UNC Highway Research Safety Center.
The 12-month practice period has long been considered the gold standard. Nine states still require a full year of supervised driving before teens can drive alone.
State lawmakers cut the time from 12 months to six during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was a temporary measure that became permanent. The six-month requirement stayed in place until December 2023.
In 2023, amid complaints about backlogs at the state Division of Motor Vehicles, lawmakers opted for nine months instead of bringing back the 12-month training period. The change took effect in January 2024.
Isabella Avila, a 17-year-old junior at Union Pines High School in Moore County, has seen classmates die in crashes. "It's worth the extra time for saving a potential life," Avila said to NC Health News.
The North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force has included education about the state's graduated driver's license as part of its 2026 agenda.
