NJ · STUDY GUIDE
GDL, Permits & Licensing
The Graduated Driver License program, permit restrictions, red decals, supervised hours, and the road to a basic license. This guide has 50 questions, each citing the NJ manual section it comes from — the first 18 are free to read below.
1 · LICENSES AND IDS
While driving in New Jersey, you must carry:
- ✓ A valid license (or validated permit), plus valid insurance and registration cards
- · Only your license
- · Only proof of insurance
- · Nothing, if the vehicle is registered to you
All three travel with you: license (or probationary license or validated permit), insurance card, and registration. An electronic insurance card is acceptable.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · Laws Governing Driver Licenses, p. 42 · LICENSES AND IDS
After moving, you must report your address change to the MVC within:
- ✓ One week
- · 30 days
- · 60 days
- · Six months
One week — one of the shortest windows in the country, and it applies even when moving OUT of New Jersey. A legal name change gets two weeks.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · Laws Governing Driver Licenses, p. 43 · LICENSES AND IDS
After legally changing your name, you must report it to the MVC within:
- ✓ Two weeks
- · One week
- · 90 days
- · At your next renewal
Two weeks for a name change (marriage, divorce, court order); address changes get only one week.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · Laws Governing Driver Licenses, p. 44 · LICENSES AND IDS
A new resident with a valid out-of-state license must apply for a New Jersey license within:
- ✓ 60 days, or before the current license expires — whichever is sooner
- · One year
- · 30 days in all cases
- · There's no deadline
60 days (CDL holders get 30), or before the out-of-state license expires if that's sooner. The old license is surrendered when New Jersey issues yours.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · Laws Governing Driver Licenses, p. 45 · LICENSES AND IDS
A motorist with a valid license from another COUNTRY may drive in New Jersey:
- ✓ For up to one year, when the license is carried with an International Driving Permit issued in their country of residence
- · For 30 days only
- · Never without a New Jersey license
- · Indefinitely
Up to a year — but current MVC guidance requires the valid foreign license to be accompanied by an International Driving Permit (IDP) issued in the visitor's country of residence.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · Laws Governing Driver Licenses, p. 4 — current MVC guidance6 · GETTING LICENSED
GDL drivers under 21 must display red reflective decals:
- ✓ On the top left corner of BOTH the front and rear license plates
- · On the windshield
- · On the rear bumper only
- · Decals are optional
Two removable red decals, top left corner of each plate, provided by the MVC for $4 a pair when the permit is issued. Driving without them violates GDL restrictions.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · GDL Decal, p. 197 · GETTING LICENSED
New Jersey's Graduated Driver License (GDL) program requires a minimum age of ___ for an unrestricted basic license:
- ✓ 18
- · 17
- · 16
- · 21
The GDL introduces privileges in phases; a basic, unrestricted license requires being at least 18. Violating GDL restrictions brings a $100 fine.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · Graduated Driver License, p. 148 · GETTING LICENSED
The Special Learner Permit (Early Bird) route starts at age:
- ✓ 16, with enrollment in an approved behind-the-wheel driver training course
- · 15, with no course needed
- · 17, with parental consent only
- · 16, with no other requirements
At 16 you can get a Special Learner Permit with parental consent, enrollment in an approved course, and a pass on the knowledge and vision tests. The instructor purchases the permit.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · The Early Bird Road, p. 159 · GETTING LICENSED
An approved behind-the-wheel driver training course consists of:
- ✓ Six full hours of behind-the-wheel instruction in a dual-controlled vehicle
- · Twenty classroom hours
- · Ten hours of highway driving
- · A weekend seminar
Six hours behind the wheel in a dual-controlled vehicle, exclusive of MVC time. The permit is validated only after the course is completed.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · Special Learner Permits, p. 1910 · GETTING LICENSED
The Examination Permit route (no driving school required) starts at age:
- ✓ 17
- · 16
- · 18
- · 21
At 17, any New Jersey resident not in suspension can get an examination permit — no student status or instructor required — after passing the knowledge and vision tests.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · The Young Adult Road, p. 1611 · GETTING LICENSED
GDL permit holders under 21 must complete supervised practice of:
- ✓ At least 6 months including 50 hours of driving, 10 of them during darkness
- · Three months, 20 hours
- · One year, 100 hours
- · Whatever the supervising driver decides
Six months minimum and at least 50 practice hours with 10 at night, certified on a Certification of Supervised Driving form presented at licensure.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · The Early Bird Road, p. 1512 · GETTING LICENSED
First-time drivers 21 and older must practice supervised driving for at least:
- ✓ Three months
- · Six months
- · One year
- · 30 days
Adults 21+ follow the shorter road: three months supervised, then the road test, then one year of unsupervised probationary driving before the basic license.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · The Adult Road, p. 1713 · GETTING LICENSED
The adult supervising driver for a permit holder must be:
- ✓ At least 21, with a valid New Jersey license and at least 3 years' driving experience, seated in the front
- · Any licensed driver, in any seat
- · At least 25 with any state's license
- · At least 18 with one year of experience
21 or older, NJ-licensed, minimum three years' experience, and in the front seat.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · Permit Restrictions, p. 1814 · GETTING LICENSED
Permit and probationary license holders under 21 may NOT drive between:
- ✓ 11:01 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.
- · Midnight and 6:00 a.m.
- · 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
- · 9:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.
The GDL curfew runs 11:01 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. Exemptions for work or religious need require carrying certification on official letterhead.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · Permit Restrictions, p. 1815 · GETTING LICENSED
For GDL permit and probationary license holders, cell phone use while driving is:
- ✓ Completely prohibited — even hands-free
- · Allowed if hands-free
- · Allowed for navigation only
- · Allowed after 6 months
GDL holders may not use ANY handheld or hands-free electronic device behind the wheel — stricter than the adult rule, which permits hands-free.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · Permit Restrictions, p. 1816 · GETTING LICENSED
Unless accompanied by a parent or guardian, a probationary license holder under 21 may carry:
- ✓ Only their dependents plus one additional person
- · As many passengers as there are seat belts
- · No passengers at all
- · Up to three friends
Passengers are limited to the holder's dependents plus one additional person. At 21+, the hour, passenger, and decal restrictions fall away.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · Permit Restrictions, p. 1817 · GETTING LICENSED
After 12 months of unsupervised probationary driving, a motorist should:
- ✓ Upgrade the probationary license to a basic license online
- · Do nothing — it converts automatically
- · Retake the road test
- · Retake the knowledge test
The upgrade isn't automatic — complete it online. A Licensing Center appointment is required only if the probationary license wasn't upgraded within 3.5 years.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 1 · GDL Driver Exemptions, p. 19 — current MVC guidance18 · GETTING LICENSED
An out-of-state driver aged 17 who moves to New Jersey with a valid license:
- ✓ Gets a probationary license for one year and must follow New Jersey's GDL rules
- · Gets a full basic license immediately
- · Must start the GDL program from the beginning
- · May not drive until 18
Licensed 17-year-olds moving in receive a probationary license for a year and take on NJ's GDL restrictions. At 18+ with a valid non-provisional license, knowledge and road tests are waived.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 2 · Out-of-State Applicants, p. 32Tip: use your ← and → arrow keys
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