Current implementation status

• Five states require more than 50 hours of supervised driving: Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. The number of hours required typically ranges from 60 to 70. However, this number is much lower than requirements in some Australian states of 100 to 120 hours.
• The majority of states require that at least some practice hours (usually 10) take place at night. Some states encourage practice hours under diverse weather and road types. These practice hours permit teens to practice driving in more challenging conditions and helps prepare them for a variety of road environments.

At least some of the states have log book requirements, for example:

• Maryland requires parents to complete a log book and submit it to the licensing authority before the driving test can be conducted. The logbook is included in a Rookie Driver: New Driver and Coach Practice Drive handbook. If the new driver is under 25, he/she needs to practice a minimum of 60 hours; at least ten of those hours should be at night, and learners are encouraged to practice in bad weather. If the new driver is 25 or older, it is necessary to complete 14 hours of practice driving, 3 of which must occur at night.
• In Oregon, teens under 18 need at least 50 hours of supervised driving practice if they have taken an ODOT-approved driver education course. Without the course, 100 hours of supervised driving practice is required.
• Minnesota recently introduced a requirement that every driver under the age of 18 who completes behind the wheel instruction and is testing for a provisional driver’s license must submit a driving log. Parents/guardians have two options regarding the supervised driving log:
  • Complete a supplemental parent class provided by a driver education program approved in Minnesota, and then submit a supervised driving log showing their teen has completed at least 40 hours (2,400 minutes) of supervised driving, 15 (900 minutes) of which are nighttime hours; OR
  • If the parent/guardian chooses to not complete the supplemental parent class, the driving log must show that their teen has completed at least 50 hours (3,000 minutes) of supervised driving, 15 (900 minutes) of which are nighttime hours.
  • The Minnesota driving log must be presented at the time of the road test and submitted with the application for the provisional license.
• Pennsylvania teen driver law requires learner’s to have 65 hours of supervised practice, including 10 hours at night and 5 hours during bad weather conditions, before taking the driver’s skill test. The logbook is provided in the Parent’s Supervised Driving Program Guide. Parents or guardians are required to fill out a certification form attesting that the learner has met all training requirements before the skills test can be taken.
• Washington State provides a log in the Parent’s Supervised Driving handbook as a tool to help parents and teens to keep track of time spent on the road as well as to ensure that the teen has diverse supervised driving experience.
• Michigan provides a supervised driving log in multiple teen publications including their Parent’s Supervised Driving Guide that is distributed via DMV branch offices direct to parents with instructions from counter staff. The RoadReady free mobile app to log practice drives is also promoted, which includes driving conditions (road type and weather) and state requirements (a minimum of 50 hours, 10 at night of supervised driving time). Logs are required to be shown before beginning Segment 2 driver education and again before a driving skills test is administered.