Tennessee road tests are administered by the Department of Safety (DOS). You need 50 supervised hours before testing — 10 at night. The permit must be held for at least 6 months.

What the test covers

Tennessee road tests run on public streets near the driver services location. Tests typically last 15-20 minutes.

Skills tested:

Left and right turns at intersections
Stopping at signs and signals
Lane changes
Parallel parking at most locations
Backing
Speed management
Following distance
Mirror and observation habits

What gets people failed

Rolling stops at stop signs. The single most common reason people fail in Tennessee. Full stop, wheels completely stopped, before proceeding.

Parallel parking. Tennessee tests it at most locations. Hitting cones or ending up too far from the curb are the typical failure points.

Not checking blind spots during lane changes. Signal, mirror, head turn, move. The head turn is the step people skip. Examiners watch for it.

Turning into the wrong lane. Left turns go to the left lane, right turns to the right. Drifting wide is a consistent deduction.

Speed management. Tennessee residential streets are typically 30 mph. Stay at or below the limit throughout the test.

Before the test

Tennessee requires 50 hours and 10 night hours. The 6-month hold starts from when the permit was issued.

Bring:

Valid Tennessee learner’s permit
Driving log showing 50 hours (10 night)
Vehicle registration and current insurance
Parent or guardian if under 18

Tracking your hours

Tennessee’s night definition is sunset to sunrise.

Moda tracks Tennessee hours, splits day vs. night automatically, and exports a formatted log. Download on the App Store

Full Tennessee permit requirements: Tennessee permit hours

Stop manually tracking hours. Moda logs driving automatically.

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