Supervising a New Driver in Oregon: Parent's Guide
If your teen is going through Oregon's graduated licensing system, your supervised-driving role is built into the law. Here's what your teen needs to log, what restrictions apply, and where parents most commonly slip up.
GDL stages and supervised-driving requirements
- Earliest age: instruction permit
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15
- Permit holding period (months, under 18)
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Required only for applicants under 18. The 6-month minimum may be satisfied with an out-of-state instruction permit. Adults 18+ have no statutory minimum permit holding period (ORS 807.065 applies only to applicants under 18).
- Supervised driving hours required
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Under-18 applicants must complete **100 hours** of supervised driving experience, OR **50 hours** plus an ODOT-approved traffic safety education course. DMV must receive proof of course completion. Supervising drivers must be at least 21 years old and have held valid driving privileges for at least 3 years.
- Of which, night hours required
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Oregon does not break out a night-driving subset of the supervised-hours requirement. The manual (p.89) and ORS 807.065(1)(c)-(d) specify only the 100-hour total (or 50 + ODOT-approved course) with no separate night-hours floor.
- Earliest age: provisional license
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Oregon does not have a separately named "intermediate" license tier. A license issued to a driver under 18 is a **provisional license** (ORS 807.065(4)) - same Class C document, but subject to GDL restrictions: stepped passenger limits and a midnight-5 a.m. curfew that each end one year after issuance or at age 18, whichever comes first (ORS 807.122). The under-18 ban on all mobile-device use while driving lasts until 18. Earliest issuance age is 16.
- Provisional curfew: start
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For the **first year** after a provisional license is issued, the holder may not drive between 12 midnight and 5 a.m., except when: (1) driving between home and work, (2) driving between home and a school event with no other transportation available, (3) driving for employment purposes, or (4) accompanied by a licensed driver at least 25 years old. The curfew ends one year after issuance or at age 18, whichever comes first.
- Provisional curfew: end
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The restricted period ends at 5:00 a.m. The curfew itself applies only during the first year after provisional issuance (or until age 18, whichever comes first).
Source: ORS 807.122(1)(b) (curfew window ends 5 a.m.); ORS 807.122(4) (restriction lifts at age 18).
- Provisional passenger restriction
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Provisional licensees face stepped passenger limits during the first year of licensure: - **First 6 months:** may not carry any passenger under 20 years of age, **except** members of the licensee's immediate family. - **Second 6 months (months 7-12):** may not carry more than 3 passengers under 20 years of age, **except** members of the licensee's immediate family. - Restrictions end one year after issuance or when the licensee turns 18, **whichever comes first**. Statutory exceptions to the passenger limits (not the curfew): driving co-workers solely for employment in an employer-owned, insured vehicle for a farmer, rancher, or orchardist (with signed employer certification and a seat belt for every passenger), and driving with a certified traffic-safety-education instructor or a parent/stepparent with valid driving privileges in the vehicle. Oregon law does not define "immediate family" for this restriction.
- Earliest age: unrestricted license
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Provisional-license passenger and nighttime restrictions lift one year after the license is issued, or at age 18, whichever comes first (ORS 807.122). There is no fixed unrestricted age: a teen licensed at 16 becomes unrestricted at 17 only by coincidence, while one licensed later stays restricted until 18 (or their one-year mark if sooner).
Source: ORS 807.122(1)(a)-(b), (4)
- Minimum age: learner permit
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15
- Minimum age: driver license
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Class C driver license may be issued at 16. Drivers under 18 receive a provisional license carrying GDL restrictions (curfew, passenger limits, supervised-hours prerequisite); see the graduated-licensing section. Full unrestricted driving privileges begin at age 18, when the GDL restrictions lift automatically.
Phone laws for new drivers
- Handheld phone: banned for all drivers
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Handheld use of a mobile electronic device while driving is banned for all drivers in Oregon. Drivers 18 and older must use a hands-free accessory; the device may only require minimal use of a finger to activate or deactivate. Drivers under 18 may not use a cell phone or any mobile electronic device at all, even hands-free. The ban applies whenever a vehicle is being operated, including while stopped at a traffic light.
Source: OR Driver Manual 2026-2027, "Distracted Driving," p.79-80; codified at ORS 811.507.
- Texting: banned for all drivers
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Texting while driving is illegal for all drivers under the same statute that bans handheld phone use (ORS 811.507). The handbook explicitly lists texting as a "dangerous" eyes-off-road activity to avoid. There is no separate texting offense; texting is one mode of prohibited mobile-electronic-device use.
- Hands-free also banned for minors?
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Drivers under 18 are subject to a complete ban; they may not use a cell phone or any mobile electronic device while driving, even with a hands-free accessory. The hands-free exception applies only to drivers 18 and older.
- First-offense fine (maximum)
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Maximum fine on first offense: $1,000. The handbook prints the offense ladder: - 1st offense (no crash): Class B traffic violation, up to $1,000 (presumptive fine ~$265 under ORS 153.018) - 2nd offense in 10 years, or 1st offense contributing to a crash: Class A traffic violation, up to $2,000 - 3rd offense in 10 years: Class B misdemeanor, up to $2,500 and 6 months jail A first offender with no crash may be eligible to attend a distracted-driving avoidance course in lieu of the fine (ORS 811.508).
Seatbelt and passenger rules
- Seatbelt law enforcement
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Oregon is a primary-enforcement seatbelt state; an officer may stop and cite a driver for a seatbelt violation alone, without any other infraction. The driver is responsible for ensuring all passengers under 16 are properly restrained.
- Seats required to belt
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Safety belt use is mandatory for all drivers and passengers in all available seating positions, front and rear. Slack must not be left in the lap or shoulder portion; the shoulder strap may not be worn under the arm or behind the back.
- Booster/child seat: age threshold
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Child passengers must be restrained in an approved child safety seat or booster until they are **8 years of age** or at least **4 feet 9 inches** in height, and the adult lap and shoulder belt fits them correctly. Infants must ride rear-facing until they reach **2 years of age**. Note on the height line: the statute (ORS 811.210) keeps a child who is exactly 4'9" and under 8 in a booster; only a child **taller than** 4 feet 9 inches may move to the adult belt on height alone.
- Booster seat: weight threshold
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Oregon's booster-cutoff rule is age + height (**8 years** or **4'9"**), **not weight**. There is no statutory weight at which booster use ends. Weight enters the rule only for the **transition from a full child safety seat to a booster**: a child weighing **40 lbs or less** must ride in a child safety seat; only a child weighing **more than 40 lbs** (and still 4'9" or shorter, under age 8) moves to a booster. A child weighing exactly 40 lbs stays in the child safety seat. The driver manual states only the age/height rule; the 40-lb boundary comes from the statute.
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The parent's-eye view of the permit phase: Oregon's GDL numbers, the supervised-hours ladder, how to coach mistakes without breaking confidence, and a test-week plan.
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