Question: My 18 year old daughter would like to go to Victoria. She has her Washington state driver's licence. Is she allowed to drive by herself in BC with an out of province driver's licence? Is she allowed to carry passengers?
Out of Province Driver's Licence Use
Your daughter is allowed to drive alone or with passengers here in BC with her Washington State driver's licence as long as she abides by any requirements that are part of that licence and produces it on demand to police here if stopped.
GLP Rules Do Not Apply
She is not regulated by our Graduated Licensing Program because she is not a BC licence holder and those requirements are part of a BC learner or novice licence.
She does have to follow all the new restrictions on her Washington State licence while she is visiting B.C. If she still has restrictions on passenger limits those same limits apply while she is driving in our province.
International Driving Permit
While this does not apply to your daughter, if you are a tourist from a place where your driver's licence is not printed in the common language of the place you are visiting you may wish to obtain an International Driving Permit (IDP).
The IDP must be presented along with your regular driver's licence as it is not a licence itself, it is merely a translation of your driver's licence into a number of other languages for the convenience of the reader.
Time Limit on Use of Out of Province Licence
There are limits to the amount of time that you can continue to drive in British Columbia depending on whether you are a tourist or newly resident in the province. Tourists are limited to a 6 month period from the time that they last entered the province.
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