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What Counts as Night Driving in Illinois?
Yes, you can drive at night with an Illinois learner’s permit. 10 of your 50 required hours have to happen between sunset and sunrise. There’s no permit curfew. A 21+ licensed supervisor in the car is the only restriction.
Illinois has one of the longer permit hold periods in the country: 9 months. That’s three months longer than the typical 6-month state. It’s not the most exciting fact about the program, but it actually helps with night hours. You have more time to work them in without rushing.
What “Night” Means in Illinois
Illinois defines night as sunset to sunrise, no fixed clock time. When the sun goes down, the night hours start accumulating.
In Chicago, sunset runs from around 4:20 PM in December to about 8:30 PM in June. That’s a 4-hour-plus swing. The same 6:30 PM drive is a night drive in December and a late-afternoon drive in June. You can’t rely on a fixed time to know when your hours count.
Manual logs require checking the actual sunset time for that day before every session. Chicago’s December sunset at 4:20 PM is among the earliest in the continental US for a major city. That’s the best window for accumulating night hours early.
No Permit Curfew
Illinois has no nighttime driving restriction during the permit phase. Drive at 11 PM if you want, as long as your 21+ supervisor is there. The curfew kicks in after you get the license: a provisional license holder under 18 can’t drive between midnight and 6 AM without a parent or guardian. That’s a license restriction, not a permit restriction.
Getting Your 10 Night Hours Done
50 hours over 9 months works out to about 1.4 hours per week. That’s manageable: one 90-minute session, or three 30-minute drives, per week keeps you on pace with no pressure.
For the 10 night hours specifically: one night drive per week for 10 weeks finishes them by month three. At that point, you spend the remaining 6 months on the 40 day hours with zero urgency.
Illinois requires enrollment in driver’s ed before you can even apply for the permit, so you’ll arrive at the permit stage with some classroom and in-car instruction already done. That background helps during night sessions: you’ve at least heard the theory before you’re in the dark.
Chicago and suburban drivers have different experiences with night driving. City driving means streetlights, pedestrians, cyclists, and traffic signals. Suburban driving means longer stretches with less ambient light. Both are worth practicing. If you live in the suburbs, try to include at least a few urban night sessions before the road test.
Illinois Permit Requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Total supervised hours | 50 |
| Night hours required | 10 |
| Day hours required | 40 |
| Night definition | Sunset to sunrise |
| Minimum permit age | 15 |
| Permit hold period | 9 months |
| Supervisor minimum age | 21 |
| Driver’s ed required | Yes, required for permit application |
| Permit curfew | None |
Practical Tips
Use December and January. Chicago’s 4:20 PM December sunset means a 5:00 PM drive is already night. That’s the most accessible night driving window in the year: no staying up late, no scheduling around school nights. Take advantage of it in the first few months of your permit period.
The 9-month hold is a gift, not a punishment. Most teens see it as a delay. It’s actually more time to practice, more variety of conditions, and less pressure to cram hours at the end. Use it.
Chicago-area weather matters. Night driving in a February snowstorm on I-290 is a very different experience than a dry October evening on suburban streets. Illinois permits are active long enough that you’ll encounter multiple seasons. Snow and ice at night are worth experiencing before the road test, not after.
Don’t skip highway night driving. A new driver who’s only practiced on residential streets at night is not prepared for interstate driving after dark. Spend at least 2 to 3 of your 10 night hours on expressway-style roads.
The provisional license curfew is separate. After you get your license, midnight to 6 AM is restricted for under-18 drivers. That’s the post-license restriction. Your permit has no such limit. Understand that distinction so you’re not confused about when the rules change.
Moda checks the sunset and sunrise times for your exact GPS location at the start of every session. It splits each drive between day and night automatically. No math, no daily sunset lookups, no wondering if the last 20 minutes of your evening drive counted.
For full Illinois permit requirements, see our Illinois permit hours guide.
Download: Moda on the App Store