What Counts as Night Driving in Florida?

Yes, you can drive at night with a Florida learner’s permit, at any hour, as long as a licensed adult 21 or older is riding along. Florida’s 11 PM–6 AM curfew only applies to the Restricted License (the Class E license for drivers under 18), not the permit stage. During the permit, there’s no curfew at all.

When does “night” start in Florida?

Florida defines night as sunset to sunrise. No fixed clock time, which means the answer is different every day, and it varies by where in the state you’re driving.

Florida spans more than 400 miles from north to south. In Miami (southern end), December sunset is around 5:40 PM. In Jacksonville (northern end), it’s closer to 5:25 PM. That 15-minute difference isn’t huge, but across a whole year the gap grows. Miami’s June sunset hits around 8:15 PM; Jacksonville’s arrives about 8:20 PM.

Both cities run significantly later than northern states in summer. A teen in Minnesota might be logging night hours at 7 PM. In Florida, that same drive is still afternoon by 30-plus minutes.

If you’re tracking on paper, you’d need to check your specific city’s sunset time before each session. Moda pulls your GPS coordinates at session start and applies the exact sunset time, so you’re not guessing.

No curfew during the permit stage

This trips people up because Florida’s curfew is well-known. The rule is: once you get the Class E (Restricted) license, you can’t drive between 11 PM and 6 AM for the first year, with limited exceptions.

But that rule doesn’t exist during the learner’s permit stage. A midnight drive with your supervisor fully counts: night hours, total hours, all of it. The permit stage is when you’re supposed to be logging those 10 night hours, and Florida doesn’t restrict when you do it.

Getting your 10 night hours done

Florida requires 10 night hours out of 50 total. With a 12-month hold period, you have more time than most states to pace yourself. 50 hours over a year is about 1 hour per week.

The families who end up scrambling are the ones who treat night driving as the last thing to tackle. By month 10, they’ve got 45 day hours and 2 night hours and suddenly need to log 8 more nighttime sessions before the year is up. Don’t do that.

A workable rhythm: start one intentional sunset-or-after drive per week from month 2. In Florida winter (October through February), this is easy. Sunset before 6 PM means a school evening drive or a quick after-dinner errand qualifies. Thirty minutes is enough to build a session log.

In summer, you’ll need to plan around the 8:15–8:30 PM sunset. That means weekend evenings or later school-night drives. A harder sell for most families, but entirely doable if it’s on the schedule.

Florida’s humidity and fog

One Florida hazard worth noting: fog. The state’s humidity means fog rolls in on early mornings and late evenings, especially in summer and fall near the coasts and in central Florida near lakes. It’s not rare to hit thick ground fog at 7 AM or 9 PM.

If you can safely practice in light fog with your supervisor, those drives count as night hours and also give your teen real low-visibility experience. That’s harder to manufacture in dry states. Don’t skip it if conditions are manageable.

Florida permit requirements

Requirement	Details
Total supervised hours	50
Night hours	10
Night definition	Sunset to sunrise
Minimum permit age	15
Permit hold period	12 months
Supervisor minimum age	21
Curfew (permit stage)	None
Driver’s ed	Required

Practical tips for Florida

Driver’s ed is mandatory before you can get the permit. Unlike South Carolina, you can’t skip it. Plan the driver’s ed enrollment early, especially if your teen turns 15 in the fall, when many courses fill up.

The 12-month hold period is one of the longer ones nationally. Use it. Teens who log 60–65 hours instead of the minimum 50 arrive at the road test visibly more prepared. The extra 10–15 hours costs about one extra session per month over the year.

Florida has three distinct driving environments worth practicing in before the road test: urban (Miami, Tampa, Orlando), suburban highway, and rural two-lane state roads. Night driving in each feels different. If you’re doing most practice in the suburbs, at least a couple of the night hours should happen somewhere more demanding.

Because Florida’s night definition is sunset-to-sunrise, accurate tracking means knowing the exact sunset for your location each day. Moda handles this automatically. It accounts for Florida’s latitude range and gives you the right threshold wherever you are in the state.

Download: Moda on the App Store

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