New York, supervised driving hours

New York supervised driving hours, and whether the log is turned in

New York requires 50 hours of supervised practice, at least 15 of them after sunset, and the certification is handed in: a parent or guardian signs form MV-262, and you give it to the license examiner at every road test. Vehicle and Traffic Law s. 502(2)(d) sets the hours for junior (Class DJ and MJ) applicants, and s. 502(2)(c) applies the same certification to a 17-year-old using driver education to get a full Class D. Hours with a driving school instructor or a driver education teacher count toward the 50 and go in their own table on the form; the rest must be with a supervisor 21 or older, licensed for that vehicle, inside the junior permit's regional limits. Under 18 you also wait 6 months from the permit date before booking the road test. The Driver's Manual also suggests at least 10 hours in moderate to heavy traffic, but that is advice rather than a line on MV-262, and New York DMV publishes no hour requirement at 18 and over. Checked in September 2026.

Source: Vehicle and Traffic Law s. 502(2); New York State DMV, Complete Pre-Licensing Requirements and form MV-262 (3/25), checked September 26, 2026.

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Is there an hour-by-hour log that goes to DMV?

No. MV-262 (revision 3/25) is a single page, and the only part that breaks hours down is a table for lessons with a driving school instructor or driver education teacher. Hours with a parent, a relative, or another adult are covered by one signed statement, not a trip-by-trip record. DMV's Information for Parents page describes no log requirement either.

The signature covers more than the total. The parent or guardian certifies the total, that every non-instructor hour was driven under the immediate supervision of a driver 21 or older with a license valid in New York for that vehicle, and that each of those hours followed the junior permit rules for the region where it was driven. The form warns that falsifying it may be a felony or a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine, imprisonment, or both. Vehicle and Traffic Law s. 392 makes a knowingly false statement in an application for a DMV document, or in any written proof or statement connected with one, a misdemeanor, and the form cites that section for the instructor table.

Keep your own record anyway

MV-262 asks for no trip dates or times, but the signature vouches for both the total and the legality of every hour. A notebook or phone note with the date, start time, minutes driven, supervisor, and whether it was after sunset lets the parent sign a number they have added up rather than estimated.

Who can sit beside you for hours that count?

Someone 21 or older, licensed for the vehicle, and on the right list for the region and the hour, in a car that also meets the junior permit seating and belt rules. Vehicle and Traffic Law s. 501(5)(a) sets the age and license floor for every learner permit, and s. 502(2)(d) counts hours only with those supervisors, driver education teachers, and driving school instructors.

Checks before a junior permit drive

Age 21 or older
Section 501(5)(a). A licensed 19-year-old brother or sister cannot supervise a single hour.
License valid in New York for that vehicle
A car license for car practice. For a motorcycle permit, only a motorcycle-licensed rider may supervise.
Alone in the front with you
Section 501-b(1)(a) allows no front seat occupant other than the supervising driver.
Limit younger passengers
Section 501-b(1)(c) allows no more than one passenger under 21 who is not immediate family, unless a licensed parent, guardian, person in loco parentis, driver education teacher, or driving school instructor supervises.
The right relationship for the region and hour
Upstate from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., any adult who passes the first two checks. Upstate after 9 p.m., it must be a parent, guardian, person in loco parentis, driver education teacher, or driving school instructor. From 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. in New York City the same list applies; on Long Island it also includes an adult authorized in writing by a parent, guardian, or person in loco parentis. Junior permit driving is prohibited in both regions from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Everyone belted
Section 501-b(1)(b) requires a safety belt or child safety seat for each occupant.

MV-262 has the parent certify the age, license, and regional checks for every hour not driven with an instructor. The front seat and belt rules come from s. 501-b and apply to every junior permit drive.

Where and when can a junior permit holder practice in each region?

That depends on which of three regions you are driving in: New York City (the five boroughs), Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk), or upstate (all other counties). The rules come from Vehicle and Traffic Law s. 501(5)(b) and apply wherever the car is, not where you live.

Junior permit (Class DJ) practice by region

Region	5 a.m. to 9 p.m.	9 p.m. to 5 a.m.	Extra condition
New York City	Parent, guardian, person in loco parentis, driver education teacher, or driving school instructor	No driving at all	Car must have dual controls (dual brakes)
Long Island (Nassau, Suffolk)	The same list, plus an adult the parent, guardian or person in loco parentis authorizes in writing	No driving at all	None beyond the statewide rules
Upstate	Any licensed driver 21 or older	Only a parent, guardian, person in loco parentis, driver education teacher, or driving school instructor	None beyond the statewide rules

Every supervisor must be 21 or older and licensed for the vehicle. Sources: DMV Learner Permit Restrictions; Vehicle and Traffic Law s. 501(5)(b).

The night limit shapes the 15 after-sunset hours. In New York City and on Long Island a junior permit holder may not drive between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., so every night hour there has to fit between sunset and 9 p.m. Upstate, any qualified adult can supervise after sunset until 9 p.m., and only a parent, guardian, person in loco parentis, or instructor after that. Neither the statute nor MV-262 sets a clock time for after sunset; sunset itself is the line.

Lakeville Road approaching the Long Island Expressway bridge in Lake Success, Nassau County — Junior permit driving rules on Long Island differ from those in New York City and upstate.Photo: Infrastorian, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Some roads are closed to every learner permit in every region: streets inside New York City parks, bridges and tunnels of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, the Cross County, Hutchinson River, Saw Mill River, and Taconic State parkways in Westchester County, and DMV road-test areas. Time on those roads is not lawful permit driving, so leave it out of the count.

Unless the family car has a passenger-side brake, a parent cannot supervise practice inside the five boroughs at all, so city families plan those hours outside the city or in a dual-control car. DMV's graduated license page suggests that junior permit holders who expect to drive a lot in the city put off the road test until 18 so they can keep practicing in dual-control cars with approved supervisors. The reason is on the same page: a junior license cannot be used in the five boroughs at all.

Do driving school lessons and driver education count toward the 50?

Yes. The top of MV-262 counts hours driven in a certified driver education course as part of the 50, and the form lets each school that taught you certify its own hours in a signed row of the table at the bottom. A parent, guardian, or representative of a government agency or facility signs for the full total.

Completing MV-262 before the road test

1
Top of the form
Your name, your learner permit ID number, and your address.
2
Instructor table
For each school: its name, its driving school license number, the instructor's name and certificate number, the hours certified, and a signature from the administrator, owner, or instructor. The form says these entries must match records that DMV and State Education Department rules require.
3
Parent or guardian certification
Printed name, signature, and date. A representative of a government agency or facility can sign instead and adds the facility name.
4
Bring it with the originals
Take MV-262 to the road test with your photo learner permit and your original MV-278 or MV-285, and hand it to the examiner. The form itself says copies of those two certificates are not accepted.

The Pre-Licensing Course, about 5 hours of instruction, adds nothing to the count: DMV says it gives no hands-on driving instruction, so it only meets the course requirement for the road test. A 48-hour driver education program through a high school or college replaces that course, and any time you drove in it goes in the table.

How do the 50 hours fit around the 6-month permit wait?

They run side by side, and the 6-month clock can stop. Vehicle and Traffic Law s. 501-b(1)(d) does not count any time the junior permit spent suspended or revoked toward those 6 months. Spread over 26 weeks, 50 hours comes to just under 2 hours a week.

Worked example

Teodora, Saratoga County, permit at 16

1Teodora turns 16 on January 5, 2026, and gets her Class DJ learner permit on January 12. Saratoga County is upstate, so any licensed driver 21 or older can supervise her from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
2The earliest date she can schedule a road test is July 12, 2026, 6 months after the permit was issued.
3She takes 6 hours of lessons with a licensed driving school, which fills in one row of the MV-262 table.
4Her mother supervises 30 hours and her licensed 27-year-old cousin 14. With the 6 school hours, that makes 50.
5Of those, 15 are after sunset: 9 with her cousin on winter evenings that finish before 9 p.m., and 6 with her mother, 2 of them after 9 p.m. Upstate, her cousin could not have supervised those last 2.
6In April she completes the 5-hour course in a classroom and receives an MV-278, valid for 1 year. It adds no hours.
7She books on July 13 and gets August 14, about 4 and a half weeks out, inside DMV's usual 3 to 5 weeks.
8She fails on August 14. On August 17 she books again and gets September 16, past the 14-day minimum wait and again inside the usual lead time, and brings a completed MV-262 again.

Outcome. Teodora passes on September 16, 2026. Her interim Class DJ junior license is available online, and the photo license follows by mail. Both road tests were covered by her original fees; a third would have cost $10 under Vehicle and Traffic Law s. 503(2)(b), and that $10 would also have covered a fourth.

Teodora's dates

January 12, 2026
Class DJ permit issued
The 6-month clock starts.
April 2026
5-hour course finished
MV-278 issued; no hours added.
July 12, 2026
Earliest scheduling date
6 months after the permit date.
August 14, 2026
First road test
Failed; MV-262 handed in.
August 28, 2026
Earliest retest date
14 days after the failed test.
September 16, 2026
Second road test
Passed, with a completed MV-262 again.

The dates are an example. The 6-month and 14-day gaps are DMV's rules.

Do you need the hours at 17, or at 18 and over?

At 17, yes, on either route. A 17-year-old on a junior permit hands in MV-262 like a 16-year-old, and the driver education route (the MV-285 certificate) to a full Class D or M license at 17 needs the same hours.

At 18 and over, there is no MV-262 to bring: DMV's road-test checklist asks for it only from applicants under 18. Every drive on a permit still needs a supervisor 21 or older who is licensed for the vehicle.

Junior motorcycle (Class MJ) permit holders under 18 hand in MV-262 at each motorcycle road test as well. For riders of any age, DMV's motorcycle page recommends at least 30 hours of practice, 10 of them in medium to high-volume traffic, as advice rather than a certified count.

More questions about this in New York

Can a grandparent or older sibling supervise practice hours in New York?

Only if they are 21 or older with a license valid in New York for the vehicle, and only where the region allows it. Upstate, any such adult can supervise a junior permit holder from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. On Long Island, a grandparent who is not a guardian or person in loco parentis can supervise from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. if a parent, guardian, or person in loco parentis authorizes them in writing. In New York City, only a parent, guardian, person in loco parentis, or instructor may supervise from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., and the car needs dual brakes. Junior permit driving is prohibited in both New York City and Long Island from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Does the 5-hour pre-licensing course count toward New York's 50 hours?

No. New York's Pre-Licensing Course is about 5 hours of instruction with no hands-on driving, so it satisfies the course requirement for booking the road test but adds nothing to MV-262. Driving time in a certified driver education course, or in lessons with a licensed driving school instructor, does count, and the school enters those hours in the table at the bottom of the form.

Do you need MV-262 again for a second road test in New York?

Yes. New York form MV-262 says junior permit holders give the certificate to the license examiner at every road test, and the motorcycle page lists it among what riders under 18 bring to the road test. DMV does not say whether the examiner returns it, so have a completed, signed MV-262 ready for each attempt. A retest cannot be taken sooner than 14 days after a failed road test.

Can New York practice hours after sunset be driven after 9 p.m.?

It depends on the region. A junior permit holder in New York City or on Long Island may not drive from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. at all, so after-sunset hours there must fall between sunset and 9 p.m. Upstate, driving after 9 p.m. is allowed only with a parent, guardian, person in loco parentis, driver education teacher, or driving school instructor who is 21 or older and licensed.

What happens if a parent withdraws consent for a New York junior driver?

A parent or guardian in New York can cancel the consent given when a teen applied by filing form MV-1W, Withdrawal of Consent, with DMV. That cancels the Class DJ or MJ learner permit or junior license, which also ends supervised practice on that permit. DMV prints this option on MV-262 itself, so the parent sees it on the same page as the hours certification.

Do adults 18 and over need supervised driving hours in New York?

New York publishes no required hour count for applicants 18 and over, and DMV's road-test checklist asks for MV-262 only from applicants under 18. Adults with a car learner permit still need a supervisor 21 or older with a license valid for the vehicle in the car. First-time applicants must also complete the 5-hour Pre-Licensing Course before the road test, unless they complete a 48-hour driver education program. An existing New York license holder amending to another class does not need the course.

Sources

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Written by Vikas. Checked against the source above on September 26, 2026. New York DMV does not run this site and does not endorse it.