Old Millennial, here. Gather round!

In most of the USA, you could get a permit at 15 1/2 years old, and this came with the restriction of needing someone over 18 with you.

Then at 16, if you passed the test, you were given a license and could drive all you want. No restrictions, no limits, have your friends in the car, no one really cared. Then people started to realize that giving 16 years olds free rein to drive causes a lot of accidents. Over the past ~15 years more states have adopted the graduated driver’s license and it has caused a notable drop in fatalities.