Teen restrictions — Virginia Permit Test
Teen restrictions on the Virginia permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
Virginia law prohibits a licensed driver under age 18 from driving between midnight and 4 a.m., apart from a short list of exceptions such as work, a supervised school activity or an emergency.
Those four hours carry the highest crash risk of the day for young drivers, because everyone on the road is tired.
A licensed driver under 18 may carry only one passenger under age 21, unless a licensed parent or an adult acting in place of a parent is in the front passenger seat.
A carload of friends is the single biggest predictor of a young driver crashing, which is why the number is one rather than a few.
After holding a license for one year, a driver under 18 may carry up to three passengers under age 21 when traveling to or from a school activity, when a licensed driver 21 or older is in the front seat, or in an emergency.
The limit loosens after a year because that is when a new driver has enough experience for the extra distraction.
Passenger restrictions for drivers under 18 do not apply to family members.
Driving a brother or sister home is the everyday trip the rule was never meant to stop.
Breaking either the curfew or the passenger restrictions can result in the suspension of your driver’s license.
These rules only work if breaking them costs something, and for a new driver the license is the thing that matters.
On the test
Which hours may a licensed Virginia driver under 18 not drive?
Between midnight and 4 a.m.. Those four hours carry the highest crash risk of the day for young drivers, because everyone on the road is tired.
How this works
Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.
You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.
Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against Virginia Driver’s Manual, published by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-02.
- https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/licenses-ids/exams/know-exam
- https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf
- https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/documents/dmv39i.pdf
- https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/licenses-ids/learners/apply
- https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/licenses-ids/learners/restrictions
- https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title46.2/section46.2-870/
- https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title46.2/section46.2-873/
- https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title46.2/section46.2-874/
- https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title46.2/section46.2-862/