Behind the Wheel in D.C.: Planning and Logging the GRAD Hours

Before the first drive: lessons are optional

The District once planned to make driver education, in-car instruction included, compulsory from May 1, 2016. DC DMV suspended that indefinitely, and today no age group is required to take professional lessons.

The real requirement for under-21s is supervised driving, in two batches. Forty signed-off hours come before the provisional license; ten night hours come before the full license with conditions. Every minute of it can be supervised by a parent, a relative or any other adult who meets the rules.

Before the first drive: who can supervise

D.C. Code 50-1401.01 says the supervisor must be 21 or older, licensed, seated next to the learner and belted. DC DMV's form adds that the tutor's license must be a full one, so someone on a learner permit or provisional license cannot sign.

It does not matter which state issued the supervisor's license, a relief for families commuting from Virginia or Maryland. Parents, grandparents, a sibling, a family friend or a paid instructor can all supervise, provided the age and full license tests are met.

During practice: filling in the HR40 form

The 40 hour form is a single page. One line per drive, with columns for the day, who supervised (printed), when you started and stopped, and how long that came to. DC DMV's own sample line shows a two hour morning session.

Each tutor signs only for hours they personally supervised, adding license number, issuing state and expiration date. The learner signs that they are at least 16 and a half, have held the permit six months and have no pointable offense. Lying on the form can cost up to $1,000 in fines, up to 180 days in jail, or the permit itself.

• The date of each drive
• The tutor's name, printed
• When the drive started and ended
• Hours and minutes for that drive
• A running total
• Each tutor's signature, license number, issuing state and expiration
• The learner's own signature

During practice: making 40 hours count

There is no official syllabus for the 40 hours. The examiner, though, will be judging car control, signaling and parallel parking on District streets. Keep drilling those until they feel boring.

District driving has quirks you will not find in the suburbs: circles such as Logan and Dupont, grids of one-way streets, bike lanes everywhere, streetcar rails along Benning Road and H Street, and heavy foot traffic. Plan drives that hit each of them, not just quiet blocks near home.

A sample plan: weeks one to four on quiet residential streets and empty lots, weeks five to ten on busier arterials and one-way grids, then circles, highway merges and wet weather for the rest. Two hours a weekend gets you to 40 in about five months, comfortably inside the six month minimum.

• Parallel parking on the left and right side of one-way streets
• Picking the right lane in a traffic circle
• Giving way to cyclists and people on foot
• Merging onto I-395 or I-295
• Wet roads and dusk driving, finished by 9 p.m.

After the road test: the 10 night hours

A permit stops at 9 p.m., so real night driving only starts on the provisional license. When the time comes to convert, at 17 or older, the application needs a signed tally of at least 10 after-dark hours plus a copy of the supervising adult's full license; that adult must be 21 or more.

Keep a short night log as you go: the date, the times and who supervised. The signed form is checked as part of the online conversion, which costs $47.

If you want a professional for some of it

The 38 hour approved course (8 hours driving, 30 in class) is still on DC DMV's website, taught by schools that won certification before 2016. The list includes schools in Maryland and Virginia as well as the District, and notes which teach in other languages.

Paid lessons may go on the 40 hour log as long as the instructor clears the same bar as any tutor (21+, valid full license) and signs those lines. Confirm before you book that the instructor will sign.

If something goes wrong: what stops the clock

Breaking a GRAD restriction suspends the permit for 30 days the first time, 60 the second and 90 the third, and the suspension is added onto the six month holding period. A ticket that carries points also sends the 12 month clean record back to zero.

Watch the phone, too. Learners and drivers under 18 may not use any device while driving, hands-free included, and the fine is $100.

On test day: logistics

Road tests happen by booking at DC DMV's Deanwood office, 1421 Kenilworth Avenue NE. Show up a quarter of an hour ahead with the hours form, the permit, a car with current insurance and registration, and your 21-plus licensed companion.

Arrive without that licensed driver and DC DMV bars you from testing for six months. Families who would rather not use their own car may use one of DC DMV's own cars free of charge once a waiver and consent form is signed; a parent signs it for a teen under 18.