Illinois road tests are administered by the Secretary of State. You need 50 supervised hours before you can schedule it — 10 of those must be at night. You must also hold your permit for at least 9 months.

What the test covers

The Illinois road test covers fundamental driving skills on public streets near the testing facility. The examiner scores you on a standard sheet.

Skills tested:

Left and right turns at intersections
Stopping at signs and traffic signals
Lane changes on multi-lane roads
Parallel parking
Backing
Speed management
Observation and mirror use

Illinois requires parallel parking. Practice it until it’s consistent, not just occasionally right.

What gets people failed

Not yielding to pedestrians. Illinois law gives pedestrians the right of way in crosswalks. Examiners specifically watch for failure to yield when turning at intersections with pedestrians present.

Rolling stops. Full stop at every stop sign, every time. The car’s wheels must stop completely before you move.

Parallel parking errors. Hitting cones or ending up far from the curb are the most common parallel parking failures. You get a limited number of attempts — going back and forth five times to inch into the space is a deduction.

Not checking mirrors and blind spots. Illinois examiners look for head movement during lane changes. Signal, check the mirror, turn your head to check the blind spot, then move.

Turning into the wrong lane. Left turns go to the left lane. Right turns go to the right lane. Wide turns that drift into oncoming lanes or center lanes are a common deduction.

Before the test

Illinois requires 50 supervised hours and 10 night hours. The permit must be held for at least 9 months.

Bring:

Valid learner’s permit
Proof of identity and residency
Vehicle registration and insurance
Parent or guardian if under 18

Tracking your hours

Illinois night hours use a sunset-to-sunrise definition. The actual cutoff changes every day of the year.

Moda tracks Illinois hours automatically, applies the correct night definition for your location, and exports a formatted log. Download on the App Store

Full Illinois permit requirements: Illinois permit hours

Stop manually tracking hours. Moda logs driving automatically.

Auto-detects night driving, exports DMV forms, and syncs across family phones.