5 States Where a New Driver Can Carry Unlimited Passengers

“The absence of a passenger restriction is most consequential on exactly the nights when it would matter most.”

Passenger presence is the strongest single amplifier of teen crash risk on weekend nights, which is exactly why the states without any teen passenger restriction stand out. As of 2024, five states — Florida (for drivers 17 and up), Iowa, Mississippi, North Dakota, and South Dakota — place no limit at all on how many peers a newly licensed teen driver can carry.

Why this gap matters most on weekends

It's most consequential on exactly the nights when multi-passenger social driving peaks: Friday and Saturday evenings. In states without this protection, the door stays open to the single riskiest driving configuration a new teen driver can be in — several friends in the car, at night, with reduced parental oversight.

What a good restriction looks like

States with the strongest GDL frameworks typically limit new drivers to one non-family passenger for the first six to twelve months of independent driving. It's a simple rule with an outsized effect, and unlike many safety interventions, it costs a family nothing to implement.

If you live in one of these five states, consider adopting the one-passenger rule as household policy — you don't need to wait for state law to catch up.

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