Motorcycles share the road with cars and are subject to most of the same rules. However, there are differences in the licensing process, and sometimes these differences extend to age limits.
So, how old do you have to be to ride a motorcycle? It depends. First, we will talk about how old you have to be to earn your license and operate the bike. Then, we will talk about age limits for motorcycle passengers.
As with ordinary driver’s licenses, motorcycle licenses are issued by individual states, not by the Federal Government. As a result, instead of a single licensing standard, there is a patchwork of fifty sets of rules. To find out the rules for your particular state, visit your state’s DMV or BMV website. There are also reliable third-party sites like dmv.org, but these can sometimes be outdated since regulations change frequently.
In most states, the minimum age for driving a motorcycle is the same as the minimum age for driving a car. That said, motorcycle licenses usually have a more complex permitting process.
Most states don’t require adults to have a learner’s permit before obtaining a driver’s license. Therefore, if you are 18 years old or older, you can progress from unlicensed to fully licensed once you have passed the road test. However, many states require you to obtain a motorcycle learner’s permit before getting your license, regardless of your age.
In addition, the motorcycle road and written test will be separate from the tests for regular drivers. Therefore, if you want to obtain a motorcycle endorsement only, you can usually skip the standard driver’s test. That said, some states require you to pass the standard written test and the motorcycle test.
In most states, you can get your motorcycle license at 16 or 17 years old. That said, there is some variation. A few states require you to be 18 years old to obtain a full license, while a handful will allow a 15-year-old to take the motorcycle road test. Age requirements for learners’ permits are usually lower. In some states, you can even get your motorcycle learner’s permit at the age of 14.
Riding on the back of a motorcycle is a bit different. Most states allow passengers of any age, provided they follow appropriate helmet laws. Unfortunately, in many states with lax helmet laws for adults, passengers under 18 years old must wear helmets.
This is not to say there are no rules whatsoever. Nearly every state requires a child to be seated in the appropriate motorcycle seat and that the child should be tall enough to reach the footpegs. That means no infants, no carriers, and no children too small to sit in the seat properly with their feet on the pegs.
As children grow, this inevitably puts them in legal limbo. Depending on the bike and the distance to the footpegs, it may be permitted to ride on some motorcycles. But not on others.
Five states have established hard lower age limits for motorcycle passengers. For example, Arkansas has a minimum age of 8 years old, while Hawaii has a minimum age of 7 years old. States such as Louisiana, Texas, and Washington all have a minimum age of 5 years old.
Perhaps, Texas has the most bizarre age restriction of all. Passengers over the age of 21 are required to carry their own motorcycle injury insurance. So in Texas, passengers under the age of 21 are exempted from these requirements and get preference.
