Drivers Training

As an Oregon teen at least 15 years old, you may obtain a learner permit and earn a provisional driver license on your way to becoming an experienced driver. The permit and provisional license give you limited driving privileges so you can learn to drive. Once you have had your provisional license for a year, or you turn 18, you will earn your regular Class C license and be free to drive anytime.

Required Training

Provisional licenses are available to teens who are at least 16 years old and meet certain qualifications.

One requirement is that you have at least 50 hours of supervised driving practice before you apply for your provisional license. It doesn't matter if you do this through driving school or with another licensed driver who is at least 21 years old. However, your parent or stepparent must certify that you have had at least those 50 hours of practice. The Oregon DMV has published The Oregon Parent Guide to Teen Driving as a resource for parents helping their teens to practicing driving.

You must also have completed an ODOT-approved traffic safety education class, or driver training class through school. You need to present a certificate with the ODOT-approved certification seal must when you apply for your provisional license.

As an alternative, you can complete an additional 50 hours of supervised driving, certified by a parent or legal guardian who is at least 21 and has had a valid license for at least three years.

To learn all the requirements, visit our Teen Drivers and Driver Education pages. Once you've earned your license, you'll be free to follow the advice below.

Tips for New Drivers

Here's a little friendly advice for new drivers from someone who's been there. They don't teach you everything in school!

• Don't order mega-size drinks at the drive-through. They tip over in
  the drink holders when you turn or stop, and if you hold the drink
  between your legs for stability, then you can't operate the floor
  pedals.

• Don't try to eat a sandwich or burger while you're driving. The
  mayonnaise-covered tomatoes will fall into your lap and you'll
  have to make a snap decision between swerving to the curb (bad) or
  leaving the grease stain on your jeans (bad).

• Don't make or receive calls on your cell phone while you are
  driving. It's bad karma, everyone else on the road will be irritated
  with you, and you won't realize you're going too slow and swerving all
  over the place until you cause an accident. Same goes for applying
  makeup while driving: just don't!

• Don't under any circumstances send a text message when you're at the
  wheel. The police officer won't be sympathetic when you explain that you
  absolutely, positively could not wait until you pulled off the road to
  text "c u soon" to your best friend, so instead you rear-ended someone
  while your eyes and thumbs were busy on the keypad.

• Don't be lame and give in to peer pressure. If some nimrod in the
  back seat says, "How fast can this thing go?" ignore them―they're
  not the one who will get busted or cause an accident. Someone in the car
  has to be the grown-up: you.

• Don't panic and jump out of the car if you notice a bee on the
  inside of the windshield. Ever seen your car roll down the street
  without a driver? You don't want to.

• Do wear your seatbelt every time you get into a car, even for a
  short ride. Something as common as stopping suddenly to avoid a cat
  darting across the street can cause your face to meet your steering
  wheel. The results won't be pretty, and your prom date will find an
  excuse to back out.

• Do be vigilant for other drivers who are not as with it as you are,
  and keep your distance. You never know when they will decide to enter
  your space (since they won't bother to signal), and the element of
  surprise isn't as fun on the road as it is at a birthday party.

• Do install a dog barrier in the back of your car before taking Rover
  for a ride. Rover will want to be in the front seat with you, and trying
  to swat him back with one hand while steering with the other is a sure
  way to take out a whole line of parked cars.

• Do obey speed limits so that you will have time to react should an
  unexpected obstacle (a person, another car, an animal) appear. Besides,
  no one will believe you got that huge dent going "only 10 miles an
  hour."

• Do listen to your stereo at a low enough volume that you can hear
  emergency sirens. Those fire trucks are a lot bigger than you, so you'll
  want to know one is approaching before it runs you over.

• Do take it easy, pay attention, and take the rules of the road
  seriously. In a few years when you can honestly say you've never had a
  ticket or an accident, people will respect you, and it will be an
  enormous point of pride.