Getting an Arkansas Teen from Permit to License

Before you start: do you need a course?

You do not. Read the DFA page on graduated licenses and the State Police page on driver testing and you will find ages, tests and limits, but no course requirement. You will not find a required count of supervised practice hours on either page either.

So the teaching job lands on you. Many families still pay for a course or a handful of lessons, mainly with the road test in mind. The examiner scores how your teen handles the car's controls and the rules of the road, and repeated mistakes end the test.

A practical approach: let your teen pass the permit test, spend a few weeks driving with you in quiet places, then book one or two professional lessons to find the habits you have missed.

At 14: the instruction permit

Every new driver without an Arkansas license begins here. Your teen must be at least 14 and get through both the written exam and the eye check. The two year life of the permit is counted from the day the written exam was passed.

On a permit, your teen may drive only when a licensed adult aged 21 or over is in the passenger seat up front, and seat belts go on for everyone. The State Police make a point of saying that no permit is ever extended, even when storms force a road test to be rescheduled.

• Later visits need the permit itself; a laminated or photocopied one is turned away
• A parent comes with ID, or you file a notarized ASP-33 form
• If your teen wears glasses or contacts, wear them for the eye check
• Every written exam adds $5 to the price of the license

Test day: what the examiner looks at

The first part happens in the parking lot. The examiner names controls, such as the wipers, headlights, hazard flashers, horn, mirrors, brake lights and turn signals, and your teen points to each one. More than three misses ends the test there.

Out on the road, making the same kind of error twice is a fail, with two weeks to wait before the next try. An automatic failure carries a 30 day wait. Examiners will not use a car with a warning light lit, a donut spare, bald tires, a cracked windshield or heavy tint, so inspect the car the evening before.

After the road test, before 16: the learner's license

If your teen passes the road test before turning 16, the revenue office issues a learner's license. Restrictions stay on it until two things are true: your teen has turned 16, and six months of restricted driving are done.

Learners drive only with a licensed adult of 21 or more, buckle up every passenger, and leave the phone alone; a call or text is allowed only in an emergency. This license lapses a month after the 16th birthday.

For example, if your 14 year old passes the permit test in March and the road test the following spring, you have a learner's license that carries the same supervision rule as the permit until the 16th birthday and the six months are both behind you.

From 16 to 18: the intermediate license

Drivers aged 16 to 18 hold the intermediate license. It stays restricted for six months counted from the date the permit was issued. A teen who already had those six months in by the 16th birthday gets it with no supervision restriction at all.

Every intermediate driver still lives with three limits until 18, whether the license is restricted or not. It expires one month after the 18th birthday.

• Passengers: just one minor who is not family, unless an adult driver aged 21 or over rides up front
• Hours: home by 11 p.m. and not out again before 4 a.m., except with a licensed adult 21 or older in the car or on a trip for work, school, church or an emergency
• Phones: no calls and no texts at the wheel unless it is an emergency
• Seat belts on for everyone in the car

If something goes wrong: tickets and crashes

Each stage in Arkansas depends on a clean driving record. The State Police rely on Arkansas Code 27-16-704(7). Before a learner's license, a teen needs six months free of any serious crash or serious moving conviction; before an intermediate license, a full twelve months. One violation can delay the next step.

DFA puts it a little differently. Its page says going intermediate requires six months with no at fault crash and no serious violation, and going unrestricted at 18 requires twelve clean months. With two agencies using two phrasings, call DFA on (501) 682-7059 whenever your teen has had a ticket or a crash.

Can your teen skip ahead before 18?

Sometimes. A 16 or 17 year old with half a year of driving behind them can ask DFA for an early unrestricted Class D waiver if they fit one of four groups. Each group proves its case with different paperwork.

DFA's waiver page also refers to a true hardship standard. Waivers are judged one at a time, so talk to DFA before you file anything.

• Finished school: 16 or older with a GED or high school diploma
• Married: 16 or older, with the marriage license or certificate
• Enlisted: 16 or older and already signed up with the military
• Emancipated: 17 or older with legal emancipation

Budgeting: fees and insurance

DFA prorates what you pay for the learner, intermediate and Class D licenses, and under Act 1289 of 2015 each written exam tacks on $5. Ask at the revenue office counter for the exact figure when you buy.

Some insurers cut rates for a teen who finishes a recognized course. Because Arkansas does not require one, check with your agent before paying for a class on the strength of a discount.

New to Arkansas with a teen driver

A permit from your old state does not move with you. According to the State Police study guide, people without an Arkansas driver's license begin on an Arkansas instruction permit. Your teen schedules the written and eye tests like any newcomer, and the learner and intermediate rules then apply by age.

Families whose teen was born in a neighboring state, meaning Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Missouri, Mississippi or Louisiana, must also show they now live in Arkansas. A lease works, as does an Arkansas school transcript from this year.

A teen with a full license from elsewhere is handled another way. The guide will take a physical out of state license that is still valid or that expired 30 calendar days ago at most. Bring that card, a parent and the documents for under 18 applicants to a revenue office, and ask DFA which Arkansas stage fits.

Another option at 14: small motorcycles

Arkansas lets young riders start early on small bikes. At 14 or 15, a rider can earn the Class MD license, which covers bikes of 250 cc and under. That takes four passes: the regular written test, a written motorcycle test, an eye check and a motorcycle riding test.

Turn in a Motorcycle Safety Foundation completion card within 90 days and it replaces the riding test. Riders under 18 also need a parent's signature.