AKM-GSIAmanda Bynes is on the road to a full recovery—literally.
In new photos exclusively obtained by E! News, the actress and fashion student was back in the driver's seat of her black BMW after only recently being allowed to legally drive again.
At first Bynes was riding in the backseat of the car with her grandparents while her grandfather drove. They dropped her grandmother off at a hair salon and then Bynes hopped behind the wheel.
She appeared to be driving cautiously and there was no issue on the road whatsoever as they made their way home, her grandpa in the passenger seat.
Her driver's license was suspended on Aug. 25, 2012, after she failed to show up for a number of court dates pertaining to unpaid tickets. By then she had also been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and been involved in at least five minor fender-benders, but public records at the time showed six encounters with traffic cops in the seven months leading up to the suspension.
Then, of course, there was her arrest in New York for allegedly tossing a bong out of her window, followed by her hospitalization last year and subsequent six months spent in treatment after she set a fire in a neighbor's driveway near her parents' L.A.-area house.
But look at her go now!
Bynes ultimately pleaded no contest in May 2013 to driving with a suspended license and was given probation. And in February she cut a deal in her DUI case, pleading no contest to "wet reckless," a lesser charge, and accepting three years' probation. She was also ordered to complete a three-month alcohol education program.
From what we've seen lately of the What I Like About You star, Bynes is really bouncing back.
She recently completed her first quarter at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Orange County and looked healthy and happy (not to mention impressively fit) in a fluorescent green bikini while on vacation in Mexico for her 28th birthday.
Bynes' mom also recently sought to clarify what was plaguing her daughter for the past couple of years, during the time that the former Nickelodeon star decided to quit acting and focus on fashion but hit some personal and legal bumps along the way.
"Amanda has no mental illness whatsoever," Lynn Bynes told E! News. "She has never been diagnosed as schizophrenic or bipolar. She is very sorry for all the hurtful tweets, statements and actions that occurred while she was under the influence of marijuana."
Whatever troubled her before, it's great to see Bynes finding success once again. Eyes on the prize (and on the road), Amanda!
—Reporting by Michelle Falls