GDL instruction permit — Missouri Permit Test

Missouri's Graduated Driver License Law requires first-time drivers under 18 to hold an instruction permit, then a restricted intermediate license, before a full license.

Three stages, each one loosening a little. A new driver meets night traffic and a car full of friends years apart, not on the same evening.

Missouri’s Graduated Driver License Law requires all first-time drivers under 18 years old to obtain an instruction permit and complete a period of driving with a licensed driver, followed by a period of restricted driving (intermediate license), before getting a full license.

Deaths and serious injuries in crashes involving young drivers fall by as much as 58 percent after a Graduated Driver License Law is put in place.

The stages are not there to slow you down for its own sake. That figure is why the state thinks they are worth the wait.

deaths and serious injuries from traffic crashes involving young drivers decline by as much as 58 percent after a Graduated Driver License Law is implemented

To obtain an instruction permit you must pass the vision, road sign, and written tests.

Three of the four parts come before you ever drive. The fourth waits until you have practiced.

Pass the vision, road sign, and written tests.

A parent, stepparent, legal guardian, or certified trainer must come to the license office with a permit applicant to sign a permission statement.

A signature from an adult is the state's way of knowing somebody at home agrees to teach you.

A parent, stepparent, legal guardian, or certified trainer (with a federal residential job training program) must accompany you to the license office to sign a permission statement.

Under 16, a permit holder may drive only when accompanied in the front seat by a parent, stepparent, grandparent, legal guardian, qualified driving instructor, or a person at least 25 years old who has been licensed for at least three years and has written permission from the parent or guardian.

The supervisor has to be beside you, not in the back. Under 16 the list of who that can be is short on purpose.

a person who is at least 25 years of age who has been licensed for a minimum of three years and has received written permission from the parent or legal guardian

At 16 or older a permit holder may drive when accompanied in the front seat by a person at least 21 years old who holds a valid driver license.

At sixteen the list opens up. The supervisor still has to be in the front seat, where they can reach the wheel.

At age 16 or older, you may drive when accompanied in the front seat by a person who is at least 21 years old and has a valid driver license.

Seat belts must be worn by the driver and all passengers in a vehicle driven on an instruction permit.

The ordinary belt law covers the front seats. On a permit it covers everybody, including the back.

Seat belts must be worn by the driver and all passengers.

An instruction permit may be renewed as many times as needed without taking the written tests again.

Some learners need longer than a year. The state does not make them sit the paper twice for that.

You may renew your instruction permit as many times as needed without taking additional written tests.

Free PERMIT DRIVER window signs are available at all license offices.

A sign in the back window tells the driver behind you what they are following. It buys a learner a little patience.

Free “PERMIT DRIVER” window signs are available at all license offices.

What does Missouri's Graduated Driver License Law require of first-time drivers under 18?

An instruction permit, then an intermediate license, then a full license. Three stages, each one loosening a little. A new driver meets night traffic and a car full of friends years apart, not on the same evening. Missouri Driver Guide, p.15: “Missouri’s Graduated Driver License Law requires all first-time drivers under 18 years old to obtain an instruction permit and complete a period of driving with a licensed driver, followed by a period of restricted driving (intermediate license), before getting a full license.”