You are practicing in Virginia with a learner’s permit and a properly seated, licensed 25-year-old supervisor. Two unrelated friends, both 19, want to ride along. This is not an approved driver-training course. What does the learner passenger rule allow?
Correct answer: Only one of the two friends may ride along.
Section 46.2-335 C limits a learner’s permit holder to one passenger under 21, apart from its approved-training and family/household exceptions. These two unrelated 19-year-olds both count.
Source: Code of Virginia §46.2-335, subsection C; current text read September 29, 2026. ↗
A Virginia learner has the required adult supervisor, two younger siblings and one unrelated 17-year-old friend in a car with enough proper seats and restraints. How does the learner passenger limit apply?
Correct answer: The siblings are exempt from this limit, so only the friend counts.
Section 46.2-335 C excludes family or household members defined in §46.2-334.01 B from the learner passenger limit. Brothers and sisters qualify, so the single unrelated friend is the only counted under-21 passenger.
Source: Code of Virginia §46.2-335 C and §46.2-334.01 B (family/household definition); both current sections read September 29, 2026. ↗
A 17-year-old has held a Virginia provisional license for six months and plans an ordinary daytime social trip without an adult. How many unrelated passengers under 21 may the driver carry?
Correct answer: One, because this is still the first licensed year.
A provisional license issued before age 18 ordinarily limits the driver to one passenger under 21. The conditional allowance for up to three starts only after the first year; this ordinary trip is still within that first year.
Source: Code of Virginia §46.2-334.01, subsection B; current text read September 29, 2026. ↗
A 17-year-old has held a Virginia provisional license for more than a year. For a daytime trip to a school-sponsored activity, what is the maximum number of unrelated passengers under 21 allowed by the provisional passenger rule?
Correct answer: Three, because the trip fits a listed after-first-year exception.
After the first year, an under-18 provisional holder may carry up to three passengers under 21 when traveling to or from a school-sponsored activity. This is a conditional allowance, not an unrestricted increase for every trip.
Source: Code of Virginia §46.2-334.01, subsection B; current text read September 29, 2026. ↗
A 17-year-old has held a Virginia provisional license for 14 months. Three unrelated teenage friends want to join an ordinary daytime social trip. Which arrangement satisfies the passenger exception for this trip?
Correct answer: A licensed driver age 21 or older sits beside the driver.
After the first year, carrying up to three under-21 passengers is permitted when a licensed driver at least 21 occupies the seat beside the driver. A social trip alone does not qualify, and the accompanying driver’s age and seat matter.
Source: Code of Virginia §46.2-334.01, subsection B; current text read September 29, 2026. ↗
At 12:30 a.m., a 17-year-old Virginia provisional-license holder is driving directly home from the business where they work. There are no passengers or other restrictions. Which statement is correct?
Correct answer: The trip fits the employment exception to the midnight-to-4 a.m. restriction.
Provisional drivers under 18 are restricted from highway driving between midnight and 4 a.m., but travel to or from their place of employment is an express exception. The exception does not make an unrelated late-night social trip lawful.
Source: Code of Virginia §46.2-334.01, subsections C(i) and D; current text read September 29, 2026. ↗
A 17-year-old has only a Virginia learner’s permit, not provisional driving privileges. At 12:30 a.m., a qualified parent offers to supervise the learner driving home from work. Does the learner’s permit authorize this highway trip?
Correct answer: No; a learner’s permit does not authorize driving between midnight and 4 a.m.
Section 46.2-335 D does not authorize a learner’s permit holder to drive from midnight to 4 a.m. Do not transfer the provisional-license employment exception to a person driving only under a learner’s permit.
Source: Code of Virginia §46.2-335, subsection D; current text read September 29, 2026. ↗
