Reader’s Question:
Can I get my driver’s permit before I turn sixteen in Pennsylvania?
Mary
Levittown, Pennsylvania (PA)
No, to the best of my knowledge you cannot get a learner’s permit in Pennsylvania before the age of sixteen. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Driver and Vehicles services as well as the PA driver’s manual, you must be sixteen years of age or older in order to apply for a learner’s permit.
Young drivers will also receive a Parent/Guardian Certification Form when they are issued a learner’s permit. This form is documents of the 50 hours of behind-the-wheel practice. Young drivers must bring the completed certification form with them when they return to take the road portion of the driver licensing exam (6 months or more after getting their permit).
In Pennsylvania the earliest age that young drivers can qualify for a full unrestricted driver’s license in is 17 ½. These young drivers must have held a junior driver’s license for at least 1 full year, completed a state-approved driver’s education course, remained crash- and conviction-free, and to qualify for an unrestricted license before the age of eighteen.