Junior operator restrictions — Massachusetts Permit Test

For the first six months after getting a Junior Operator's License you may not carry anyone under 18 other than an immediate family member.

Friends in the car are the single biggest thing that distracts a new driver. The six months are there to get the driving solid before the car fills up.

You may not operate a motor vehicle within the first six months after receiving your JOL while any person under age 18 is in the vehicle (other than you or an immediate family member)

The passenger restriction does not apply when a person at least 21 years old with at least one year of driving experience is seated beside you.

The restriction is about supervision, not about the passengers. An experienced driver in the front seat puts it back.

You may not operate a motor vehicle within the first six months after receiving your JOL while any person under age 18 is in the vehicle (other than you or an immediate family member), unless you are accompanied by a person who is at least 21 years old, has at least one year of driving experience, holds a valid driver's license from Massachusetts or another state, and is occupying a seat beside you.

The passenger restriction is lifted once you finish the six-month period or reach age 18, whichever comes first.

A driver licensed at 17 years and nine months serves three months of it, not six. The restriction ends at the eighteenth birthday whatever the calendar says.

The passenger restriction that applies to you as a JOL holder under age 18 is lifted once you complete the six-month period (or the portion that applies to you) or you reach age 18, whichever occurs first.

A Junior Operator may not drive between 12:30 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. unless a parent or legal guardian is with them.

Half past midnight is the line for a license, and midnight is the line for a permit. Thirty minutes is the whole of the difference between them.

you may not operate a motor vehicle between 12:30 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.

A Junior Operator caught driving in breach of the night restriction may be charged with operating without being licensed, which is a criminal violation.

It is not a curfew ticket. Driving outside the hours your license covers is driving unlicensed, and that is a charge rather than a fine.

you may be charged with operating a motor vehicle without being licensed. This is a criminal violation.

Breaking the passenger or night restriction brings a suspension of 60 days for a first offense, 180 days for a second, and one year for later ones.

The suspension climbs steeply because the second offense says the first one taught nothing. A year off the road at 17 is most of a school year.

you will be subject to a license suspension of 60 days for a first offense, 180 days for a second offense, and one year for subsequent offenses

A second or later violation of the passenger or night restriction also requires a Driver Attitudinal Retraining course.

The course exists because a second offense is a pattern. The suspension takes the license; the course is what is needed to get it back.

For a second or subsequent offense, you will also be required to complete a Driver Attitudinal Retraining course.

A Junior Operator may not operate a motor vehicle that requires a commercial driver's license.

The commercial classes start at 18 whatever else is true. A Junior Operator's License does not reach them.

You may not operate a motor vehicle that requires a commercial driver's license (CDL).

A driver under 18 who commits certain driving offenses with alcohol or drugs involved is suspended for one year, and a driver 18 to 21 for 180 days.

The extra suspension lands on top of whatever the court does. Being two years younger doubles it.

You will be suspended for one year if you are under 18 when you have committed certain driving offenses and alcohol or drugs were involved (180 days if age 18 to 21)

A Junior Operator faces an extra suspension of one year for a first drag racing offense and three years for a later one.

Racing is treated apart from speeding because it is deliberate. The penalty is measured in years rather than days for exactly that reason.

You will face additional suspension periods of one year for a first drag racing offense and three years for a subsequent offense.

A Junior Operator is suspended for 90 days for a first speeding offense and one year for a later one.

Ninety days for one ticket is the part that surprises people. The same ticket at 18 would be a fine and nothing else.

For a first speeding offense, you will be suspended for 90 days; for a subsequent offense, you will be suspended for one year.

A driver under 18 may not use any mobile electronic device for any reason while driving, except to report an emergency.

Hands-free is not a way around this one. For a driver under 18 the device stays untouched unless somebody is calling for help.

Drivers under 18 may not use any mobile electronic device for any reason while operating a motor vehicle. The only exception is for reporting an emergency.

A Junior Operator stays ineligible for a full license until the suspension served on a Junior Operator's License is finished and they reach 18.

A suspension served at 16 still stands between you and a full license at 18. Serving it out is not the same as it being spent.

You will be ineligible for a full license until you have completed the period of suspension imposed while operating with a JOL and you reach age 18.

Who may a new Junior Operator carry in the first six months?

Immediate family members under 18, and passengers 18 or over. Friends in the car are the single biggest thing that distracts a new driver. The six months are there to get the driving solid before the car fills up. Massachusetts Driver's Manual, p.10: “You may not operate a motor vehicle within the first six months after receiving your JOL while any person under age 18 is in the vehicle (other than you or an immediate family member)”