Your Georgia Learner's Permit can take you almost anywhere
Earn Your Georgia Learners Permit
A Georgia learners permit is what drivers under 18 years old must start with before they can be granted a full drivers license. Accidents are statistically much more likely during youth. Teenagers are generally less capable of assessing risk than full-grown adults. Combined with their inexperience operating vehicles and other complicated machines, this makes them extremely risky on the road. Learners permits allow teens a window of one year to get used to driving under the watchful eyes of parents or other older licensed drivers who can help them learn the rules of responsible driving. They are also a way for the state of Georgia to determine who is ready to start driving on their own.
How to Apply for Your Georgia Learners Permit
On your 15th birthday, you are allowed to apply for your Georgia’s learner permit. Just head down to a Georgia DDS customer service center with your legal guardian for the written permit exam and vision test. Be sure to bring your:
- Birth certificate
- Social Security card
- DS-1 Form certifying your school attendance
- $10 to pay the license fee
If you pass the required tests and have signed permission from your parent your guardian, you will be able to drive home from the DDS (with a licensed driver over 21 in the car).
Read more about how to apply for your learner’s permit at the Georgia Department of Driver Services.
Restrictions on your Georgia Learners Permit
If you're under 18 and receiving a permit, you must demonstrate good driving habits for one year and one day and complete an approved driver education course before upgrading to a full license. The state of Georgia also closely monitors your school attendance. Having 10 or more unexcused school absences on your record will cause an instant revocation of your permit. Your parent or legal guardian can also legally take away your permit or license any time before your 18th birthday. Once you've hit your one year & one day mark or your 18th birthday (whichever comes first), you will be eligible to upgrade to a full license.
Remember, this year is your chance to familiarize yourself with the habits and principles of responsible driving. It’s not enough just to memorize the rules of the road and avoid irresponsible behavior. You need to actually spend enough time behind the wheel responding to real life road conditions under the best and worst of circumstances. There’s simply no substitute for the real thing. If you’ve used this year well, you should feel totally comfortable during the actual driving test. Believe it or not, many teens fail their driver’s license test because they didn’t have enough real practice driving, and they were too nervous under the observation of the instructor.
