Eh, I don't think that's it. California lets you get your full, unlimited license as early as 17 (permit at 15.5, 6 months of permit, license with restrictions at 16, license without any restrictions after a year), and the restrictions before that are hardly "require a chaperone" level. But between my time and my (significantly younger) brother's time, the number of teenagers bothering to go through it all dropped off precipitously.
> Vicky Vosk got her red Nissan truck, the one she always wanted, on her 16th birthday. It was supposed to be the culmination of a childhood master plan: She would get her driver’s license that day, marking the start of an era of independence from her parents.
> But today her truck sits in the garage, banned from being used in any type of cruising expedition with friends. Because of a new law in California, Vosk has put on hold her long-awaited freedom at the wheel, joining a generation of California teenagers who must pay their dues before obtaining full driving privileges.
> “It’s frustrating. With the old law, everyone was looking forward to the day they turned 16. Now you have to wait so long to get your license,” she said.
...
> * The provisional license stage, which comes after passing a driving test and lasts until the teenager turns 18. During the first six months of this phase, teenagers are allowed to drive on their own, but they can’t transport any passengers younger than 20 without someone 25 or older in the car. In addition, they are not allowed to drive between midnight and 5 a.m. unless accompanied by a driver 25 or older.
I don't know where they found this misinformation, but the provisional license rules (no nighttime driving, no driving peers) are only for the first 12 months, per the CA DMV [0]
