A 3-minute lesson from the Missouri course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Missouri's Graduated Driver License (GDL) law requires every first-time driver under 18 to go through three steps: instruction permit, intermediate license, then full license. Deaths and serious injuries in young-driver crashes drop by as much as 58 percent after a GDL law.
The instruction permit lets you learn with a licensed adult beside you. Who may ride with you depends on whether you're under 16 or 16 and older.
To obtain an instruction permit:
Be at least 15
Pass the vision, road sign and written tests
Bring a parent, stepparent, legal guardian or certified trainer to sign a permission statement
If your parent, stepparent, grandparent or legal guardian is physically disabled, he or she may designate up to two persons to give you behind-the-wheel instruction.
You may renew your instruction permit as many times as needed without taking more written tests. Free "PERMIT DRIVER" window signs are available at all license offices.
You're 15 and your 22-year-old cousin offers to supervise. That's not allowed: under 16, a non-family companion must be at least 25, licensed three years, with your parent's written permission. Once you turn 16, any licensed driver 21 or older may ride with you.
Check your understanding
Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.
Who must accompany a first-time applicant to the license office to sign the permission statement for an Instruction Permit?
Any licensed driver age 21 or older
A parent, legal guardian, or certified trainer
A driving school employee only
Any adult age 18 or older
Answer: A parent, legal guardian, or certified trainer
A parent, stepparent, legal guardian, or certified trainer must sign a permission statement for the Instruction Permit.
A 15-year-old permit holder wants to practice driving. Who may legally sit in the front seat to supervise them?
Any licensed driver age 21 or older
Any licensed adult age 18 or older
A parent, grandparent, or qualified instructor
A 19-year-old sibling with a valid license
Answer: A parent, grandparent, or qualified instructor
Under age 16, you may drive only with a parent, stepparent, grandparent, legal guardian, qualified driving instructor, or someone 25+ licensed at least three years with written parental permission in the front seat.
To graduate from an Instruction Permit to an Intermediate License, how many hours of supervised driving instruction are required, including nighttime hours?
20 hours total, 5 nighttime
40 hours, including 10 at night
40 hours total, no nighttime requirement
10 hours total, including 2 nighttime
Answer: 40 hours, including 10 at night
Graduating to an Intermediate License requires 40 hours of driving instruction, including at least 10 hours at night.