Q. My son just received his driving permit, and he insists that he was told that anyone could supervise him driving, not just a parent. He wants his older brother to take him out driving, but his brother has only had a full license for one year. Can you clarify the law for me?

A. While it’s true that the supervising driver does not necessarily have to be a parent or guardian, RIGL 31-10-6.1 — Supervising Driver, states, “A supervising driver must be the parent, guardian, licensed foster parent or adult or a certified driver education instructor. A supervising driver must be a licensed driver who has been licensed to drive for five (5) years.” Your older son would not qualify, as he has not had a license for five years. For the purposes of this statute, an adult is anyone 18 years or older, but no 18- or 19-year-old would have held a Rhode Island license for the required length of time. Some other regulations concerning driving on an instruction permit are:

31-10-6 — Graduated licensing for persons under the age of 18 — (3) (i) The permit holder must be in possession of the permit; (ii) A supervising driver must be seated beside the permit holder in the front seat of the vehicle when it is in motion; (iii) No person other than the supervising driver can be in the front seat; (iv) Every person occupying the vehicle being driven by the permit holder must have a safety belt properly fastened about his or her body, or be restrained by a child passenger restraint system as provided in 31-22-22 when the vehicle is in motion; (v) The permittee shall wear a safety belt at all times unless the permittee provides the division of motor vehicles with a statement from a physician indicating that for medical reasons the permittee cannot wear a safety belt.

And of course, cell phone use is strictly prohibited by anyone driving on an instruction permit as well as on a probationary license.

Gina Antonucci Zanni, supervisor of communications for the State Division of Motor Vehicles, has agreed to answer questions of general interest posed by Journal readers about state motor vehicle laws and procedures. To ask a question that would also be of interest to other readers, send a letter to Ask projoCars, Features Department, The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI, 02902. You can e-mail your question to projocars@projo.com. Please put “Ask projoCars” in the subject field. Questions or complaints of a specific nature should be posed to the DMV directly and will not be answered in this column.

Confused about road rules? Or looking for a low-number license plate? You’ll find an archive of official answers to past driving questions posed by Journal readers at projocars.com