The Teen License and Its Curfew
ORC 4507.071 — the hours, the passengers, and why it is not a reason to pull you over
A person under eighteen does not get a full driver's license in Ohio. The first one is a probationary license, for a person at least sixteen years old who has held a temporary instruction permit for at least six months. A restricted license may go to someone fourteen or fifteen years old on proof of hardship.
Who handles this in Ohio: Ohio State Bar Association lawyer referral; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
| Time licensed | No driving between | Passengers |
|---|---|---|
| Time licensedLess than twelve months | No driving betweenMidnight and 6 a.m. | PassengersNo more than one person who is not a family member, unless a parent, guardian or custodian is along |
| Time licensedTwelve months or more | No driving between1 a.m. and 5 a.m. | PassengersNo limit beyond the seat belt rule below |
With a parent, or with a note. The hours do not apply when a parent or guardian is in the car. They also do not apply on the way to or from work, an official school function or an official religious event, as long as the driver has written documentation from the employer, the school or the event in hand. The registrar of motor vehicles must make a free form for that note available, though any written documentation will do.
Not a reason to pull the car over. No officer may stop a vehicle for the sole purpose of checking whether a probationary driver is out during the restricted hours, or to ticket that alone. The same is true of the rule about seat belts for everyone in the car. Either can be written up when the car is stopped for something else.
Every probationary driver, in the first year or after it, may carry no more people than the car has seat belts installed by the manufacturer, and every one of them has to be wearing a properly adjusted belt.
An emergency is a defense. It is an affirmative defense to driving in the restricted hours that an emergency required it, or that the driver was an emancipated minor.
A driver licensed before turning seventeen who is found to have committed a moving violation in the first six months can be ordered by the court to drive only with a parent or guardian for up to six months, or until turning seventeen, whichever comes first. The driver may ask the court for limited privileges during that time, and a second violation can end them.
Breaking the hours, the passenger limit, the seat belt rule or a court's order under this section is a minor misdemeanor.
The other curfew is local. This section is about driving. A curfew that keeps a minor off the street at night is a different rule, set locally where it exists, with its hours in the local code. What the state supplies is what follows from breaking one: a child who violates a law that applies only to children is an unruly child under the juvenile chapter, apart from a few exceptions the section names.
The temporary permit, and what it takes to get one, are in other sections not covered here. A particular ticket is a question for a licensed Ohio attorney.
Sources for this section (2)
- ORC 4507.071 — Probationary license, its restrictions, and violations
- ORC 2151.022 — Unruly child defined
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.