Texas GDL Rules Explained
Last updated 2026-07-29
Phase One: the learner license
You can apply for a learner license starting at 15. Before it's issued, you need to complete the classroom portion of an approved driver education course, plus a vision exam and the knowledge exam.
While practicing on a learner license, your supervising licensed driver must be at least 21 years old with at least one year of driving experience, sit in the seat beside you, and stay alert — not asleep, intoxicated, or doing anything that keeps them from watching the road and responding if needed.
Phase Two: the provisional license
To move from a learner license to a provisional license, you need to be at least 16, have held your learner (or hardship) license for at least 6 months, and complete both the classroom and behind-the-wheel phases of driver education, plus pass the driving exam.
A provisional license is marked "PROVISIONAL" on its face and carries real restrictions until your 18th birthday — it isn't a full, unrestricted license yet even though you're driving solo.
What Phase Two actually restricts
During Phase Two, a provisional license holder may not drive under either of these conditions:
- With more than one passenger under 21 in the vehicle who isn't an immediate family member.
- Between midnight and 5:00 a.m., unless driving is necessary for work, a school-related activity, or a medical emergency.
Both restrictions apply at the same time, not as alternatives — a Phase Two driver out past midnight for a non-exempt reason with two extra passengers in the car is violating both rules simultaneously, not just one.
The under-18 device ban applies beyond just Phase Two
Every Texas driver under 18 — not just provisional license holders — is barred from using any wireless communication device while driving, including hands-free devices, except to report an emergency. This rule tracks age, not license type, so it keeps applying even if you're technically still on a learner license.
The one carved-out use is reporting an emergency — calling 911 or a similar service. Texting, browsing, or even a hands-free phone call for a routine, non-emergency purpose is prohibited under this rule regardless of how you're holding (or not holding) the device.
The courses you have to complete before any of this
Two separate courses feed into the GDL process, and it's easy to conflate them:
- Driver education (required for anyone under 25, per the Less Tears More Years Act) — the classroom-plus-behind-the-wheel course that gets you eligible to apply at all.
- Impact Texas Drivers (ITD) — a separate, shorter course every applicant, regardless of age, must complete before taking the driving exam.
In practice, most applicants complete driver education first, since it's what makes them eligible to apply for the learner license at all — ITD then gets completed later, closer to the actual driving exam, once the earlier GDL milestones are already behind them.
Turning 18 lifts the restrictions automatically
You don't need to apply for anything new when you turn 18 — the Phase Two passenger and curfew restrictions simply stop applying, and your license is treated as a standard, unrestricted one from that point forward. You'll still get a new physical card marked "UNDER 21" removed the next time you renew.
That's a genuine convenience compared to states that require an active application or office visit to convert a restricted license into a full one — in Texas, the restrictions simply stop being enforceable at 12:01 a.m. on your 18th birthday, whether or not you've updated the physical card yet.
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More Texas Guides
- How Long Is a Texas Learner License Valid?
- What to Bring to Your Texas Permit Test
- What Happens If You Fail Your Texas DPS Test
- Do You Need Driver's Ed for a Texas License?
Rules and requirements change — always confirm current details with Texas DPS before your exam. Check the full guides index or the Texas cheat sheet and FAQ, or take a free Texas practice test.