§ 49-305 — INSTRUCTION PERMITS — COMMERCIAL LEARNER’S PERMIT — CONDITIONAL LICENSES — MOTORCYCLE ENDORSEMENT INSTRUCTION PERMIT

(1) Upon passage of the required knowledge tests appropriate for the vehicle being operated, the department may issue a commercial learner’s permit for the type of vehicle(s) the person will be operating or a class D instruction permit for a class D motor vehicle. Applicants, while in immediate possession of a commercial learner’s permit, may drive a motor vehicle on the highways for a period of up to one (1) year. Applicants with a class D instruction permit may drive a motor vehicle on the highways for a period of up to one (1) year or as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection for certain class D instruction permits. That person must be accompanied by an adult driver eighteen (18) years of age or older who holds a valid driver’s license appropriate for the vehicle being operated and who is actually occupying a seat beside the driver.
(a) Any person under the age of seventeen (17) years who has successfully completed an approved driver’s training course and has satisfied the requirements of a class D supervised instruction permit, or any person who has reached the age of seventeen (17) years, may apply for a class D instruction permit. Any person applying for any class D instruction permit or driving privileges who is under the age of eighteen (18) years shall be in compliance with school attendance requirements of section 49-303A, Idaho Code.
(b) If a person reaches the age of seventeen (17) years while operating a class D vehicle with a class D supervised instruction permit, and such class D supervised instruction permit becomes a class D instruction permit as provided in section 49-307, Idaho Code, then such class D instruction permit shall expire five (5) days after the permittee’s eighteenth birthday.
(c) Any person who has reached the age of eighteen (18) years, holds a valid Idaho class D driver’s license, and has at least one (1) year of driving experience may apply for a commercial learner’s permit.
(d) The department shall not issue a hazardous material endorsement on any commercial learner’s permit.
(2) The department may, at its discretion, issue a conditional class D driver’s license to an applicant for a class D driver’s license permitting him to operate a motor vehicle while the department is completing its investigation and determination of all facts relative to the applicant’s right to receive a driver’s license. The conditional license may be canceled at the department’s discretion at any time after issuance. The conditional license must be in the applicant’s immediate possession while operating a motor vehicle, and it shall be invalid when the applicant’s driver’s license has been issued or for good cause has been refused.
(3) Proof of identity and citizenship status pursuant to section 49-306 (5)(d), Idaho Code, shall be required before a class D driver’s license or class D instruction permit will be issued.
(4) The department may issue a motorcycle endorsement instruction permit to an applicant who has a valid driver’s license and who has successfully completed the motorcycle rider’s knowledge test and paid the appropriate fees. The permit entitles the applicant, while having the permit in his immediate possession, to operate a motorcycle on the highways for a period not to exceed one (1) year. If the permittee passes the skills test for a motorcycle endorsement within the validity period of the motorcycle endorsement instruction permit, he shall not be required to pay the motorcycle endorsement fee. A person holding a motorcycle instruction permit shall not carry any passenger while operating a motorcycle, shall not operate a motorcycle except during the hours of daylight only, and shall not operate a motorcycle on any interstate highway system. A violation of the conditions of a motorcycle endorsement instruction permit is an infraction. The department shall cancel the permit whether or not such violation results in conviction of the infraction.

Legislative History

[49-305, added 1988, ch. 265, sec. 39, p. 591; am. 1989, ch. 88, sec. 18, p. 173; am. 1989, ch. 426, sec. 2, p. 1055; am. 1990, ch. 45, sec. 17, p. 93; am. 1991, ch. 89, sec. 4, p. 201; am. 1991, ch. 286, sec. 1, p. 737; am. 1992, ch. 115, sec. 9, p. 360; am. 1992, ch. 117, sec. 1, p. 390; am. 1994, ch. 234, sec. 6, p. 735; am. 1994, ch. 347, sec. 2, p. 1099; am. 1996, ch. 348, sec. 4, p. 1164; am. 1996, ch. 371, sec. 7, p. 1255; am. 1998, ch. 110, sec. 16, p. 397; am. 1999, ch. 81, sec. 8, p. 248; am. 2000, ch. 214, sec. 6, p. 590; am. 2000, ch. 327, sec. 3, p. 1103; am. 2004, ch. 297, sec. 1, p. 827; am. 2008, ch. 194, sec. 4, p. 612; am. 2010, ch. 16, sec. 2, p. 22; am. 2015, ch. 54, sec. 4, p. 131; am. 2022, ch. 71, sec. 1, p. 209; am. 2025, ch. 24, sec. 1, p. 72; am. 2025, ch. 259, sec. 1, p. 1131.]