Expert raises concerns about changes to NC teen driving rules

A North Carolina driving safety expert is raising concerns about a new state law that will soon permanently shorten the amount of time teenagers must wait before driving unsupervised.

Under the new policy, North Carolina teens will be required to wait nine months before upgrading their learner’s permits to limited provisional licenses. For more than 20 years, that waiting period had been a whole year. 

The waiting period was first adjusted to six months during the pandemic. The new law keeps this in place through the end of this year, with the nine-month rule going into effect in January.  

Republican state Senator Vickie Sawyer, who co-sponsored the bill, says it puts North Carolina’s requirements more in line with Virginia and South Carolina.

Teens are still required to complete 60 hours of supervised training. Wayne Goodwin, the state’s DMV commissioner, says the rule change doesn’t mean that teens must get their next level license as soon as the waiting period expires. 

“A parent and or teen can decide, 'You know what, I'm not comfortable yet. Let's wait a few more months of practice driving before we do it,'" he says. 

But Natalie O’Brien, with the UNC Highway Safety Research Center, says it’s more complicated than that.

“Parents generally think that policy is backed by science, which we hope that it is, but that's not always the case," says O'Brien. "And so if we say that nine months is the requirement or six months is a requirement in North Carolina, there's sort of a false sense of security, that if that's what our state is requiring, that must be what is needed.”

In this case, she says, her research does not support the policy. Preliminary data shows that crashes among 16-year-olds rose by 12% after the waiting period was shortened during the pandemic, and O’Brien says this number is likely to rise after research is finalized. 

She tells parents that teens need experience driving under a variety of circumstances in order to be safe – just being able to pass the DMV’s road test isn’t enough. 

“Imagine yourself when you're in the car with your teen, would you feel comfortable falling asleep or taking a nap while they're driving in various new situations? If you don't, then they're not ready," she says. 

O’Brien says her team will be studying the effects of the new law on roadway safety in the coming years.