The road ahead is paved with a new driving bill, also known as Senate Bill 157: Limited Provisional License Modification, will change many different parts of the previous law including changing the license wait-time and the amount of passengers. The time for attaining a license will permanently change after 2023 to nine months. The bill went into effect on May 6 and was put into action across North Carolina the following Monday.
The original law for license wait-time was 12 months and changed to six months during the pandemic and then changed back to the 12 months at the beginning of 2023. With the passing of this bill it fell back down to six months for the remainder of 2023 and will permanently change to nine months in January of 2024.
Sixty supervised driving hours will be required and 16-years-of age will still be required when applying for a license.
It will also allow drivers 16-17 years old the ability to have more than one unrelated passenger under the age of 21 if the destination is to or from school. This change will go into effect on Aug. 1, 2023.
The change has caused much debate in the eyes of parents. The official vote was 92-15 in favor of passing the bill and then was sent to Governor Roy Cooper who declined to sign and the bill ultimately passed when the Senate passed it without Cooper’s signature.
This change could create an increase in DMV appointments, filling up all available spots. The DMV is recommending walk-ins for the up and coming drivers, and are also planning on opening on Saturdays to fulfill all the demand.
Watch out for your fellow Titan drivers. With more teens on the road, make sure you buckle those seatbelts and use those turn signals!