There are restrictions you must follow when you drive with a:
• Learner licence (Ls)
• Provisional P1 licence (red Ps)
• Provisional P2 licence (green Ps).
These restrictions are in place to help keep you safe as you
develop your driving skills. They also apply when you drive in
another state or territory. If you do not follow these restrictions,
you’ll get a fine. You can also get demerit points or even lose
your licence.
Restriction Applies to
Alcohol limit
Your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) must
be zero.
This means you must not have any alcohol in your
system when you drive.
Maximum speed limit
You can drive to a maximum of 90 km/h.
You must observe all speed limits below 90km/h.
You can drive to a maximum of 100 km/h.
You must observe all speed limits below 100km/h.
Mobile phone use
You must not use a mobile phone while driving,
even when you’re stationary, for example, stopped
at lights or stuck in traffic. This includes:
• texting
• phone calls
• music
• emailing
• social media
• using the internet
• maps
• photography.
The only time you can use your phone is to:
• show your digital driver's licence when
instructed by police
• use wallet functions to make a transaction or
show a voucher, but only in areas such as a
car park, driveway or drive-through and if the
the vehicle is stationary.
Number of passengers
You can carry only the number of passengers that
you have seatbelts and approved and suitable child
car seats for.
If you return to driving after being disqualified,
you can only carry one passenger at a time, for
12 months.
If you are aged under 25, between 11 pm and 5 am,
only one of your passengers can be aged under 21.
Exemptions may apply.
High-performance cars
You must not drive high-performance cars, such
as those:
• with a power to mass ratio greater than
130 kilowatts per tonne
• with significant modifications made to the
vehicle’s engine
• that is listed as a banned high-performance
vehicle.
See the full list of Banned high-performance cars at
roads-maritime.transport.nsw.gov.au
There’s no restriction on learning to drive in a
high-performance car.
Displaying L or P plates
You must clearly display plates on the front
and back, or roof, of the exterior of the vehicle
you’re driving.
Learners must display an L plate.
P1 drivers must display a red P plate.
P2 drivers must display a green P plate.
The whole letter (L or P) must be visible.
Location restrictions
You must not drive in Parramatta Park, Centennial
Park or Moore Park when in Sydney.
There’s no location restriction.
Being supervised
You must be supervised by a person with an
appropriate full (unrestricted) Australian driver's
licence (not a learner, provisional or overseas
licence). They must sit next to you.
You do not need to be supervised.
The exception is if you passed your Driving Test in
an automatic car and want to drive a manual car.
You do not need to be supervised.
Supervising a learner
You must not supervise or instruct a learner driver.
Towing a trailer
You must not tow a trailer or any other vehicle.
You can tow light trailers that weigh up to 250kg
when empty.
A red P plate must be on the back of the trailer.
Full licence towing rules apply.
A green P plate must be on the back of the trailer.
Manual or automatic cars
You can learn to drive in either an automatic or a
manual car.
If you passed your Driving Test in a manual car, you
can drive either a manual or an automatic car.
If you passed your Driving Test in an automatic
car, you can only drive an automatic car, unless
supervised in a manual car by someone with a full
Australian driver's licence.
There’s no restriction: you can drive either an
automatic or manual car.
Trucks and heavy vehicles
You must not drive, or learn to drive, vehicles that
need another class of licence, such as trucks and
other heavy vehicles.
You can learn to drive the following vehicles that
need a different class of licence:
• Light Rigid (LR) or Medium Rigid (MR)
vehicles, as soon as you have your P2 licence.
• Heavy Rigid (HR) vehicles after 1 year.
Motor tricycles
You must not drive car-based motor tricycles.