It depends on what type of driver training program you go through as to how long you must hold your Connecticut learner's permit.
In Connecticut before all 16 and 17-year-old driver's license applicants must complete a driver training program through one of the following:
- Licensed Commercial Driving School
- Secondary School Program (high school)
- Home Training Program and eight-hour course on safe driving practices (including 2-hour parent training)
To start testing for a driver’s license in Connecticut a learner’s permit must have been issued at least 180 days prior or only 120 days prior if the permit holder has completed a Commercial or Secondary School driver training course.
Classes offered through a commercial or secondary school licensed and approved by DMV consist of 30 hours of classroom instruction and at least 40 hours of behind-the-wheel, on-the-road training for teens who received their learner’s permit on or after August 1, 2008. After successful completion of the courses, the school will issue you a course completion certificate (form CS-1). This certificate is required in order for you to be eligible for the road test.
With the home training program the home instructor must sign a statement at the time of the road test, which states that the applicant has obtained a learner’s permit and successfully completed at least 30 hours of course study, including an 8-hour Safe Driving Practices class at a commercial driving or secondary school. The home training course must cover all of the material in this manual, and such other information on driver education that is deemed necessary for a person to know in order to safely operate a motor vehicle under present day driving conditions.
A student driver who received his or her permit on or after August 1, 2008, must also be given at least 40 hours of behind-the-wheel, on-the-road instruction as well as completing the two-hour parent training class accompanied by their parent/legal guardian.
In addition, home-trained applicants must also show a course completion certificate (form CS-1) from a local secondary school or commercial driving school of an approved eight-hour course that includes a minimum of four hours on the:
- Nature and the medical, biological and physiological effects of alcohol and drugs and their impact on the operator of a motor vehicle.
- Dangers associated with the operation of a motor vehicle after the consumption of alcohol or drug abuse.
- Problems of alcohol and drug abuse and the penalties for alcohol and drug-related motor vehicle violations.
- Two-hour mandatory parent training class.
Teen applicants who receive the full 30 hours of classroom training must also receive at least 8 hours of behind-the-wheel training from a commercial driving school to be eligible to begin testing for a driver’s license in 120 days. All other applicants must wait 180 days after the issuance of the learner’s permit before taking the driver’s exam.
The CT learner's permit is valid until you obtain a driver’s license or turn 18 years of age (whichever comes first).
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