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What Counts as Night Driving in Kansas?
Yes, you can drive at night with a permit in Kansas — there’s no curfew for permit holders, and night driving is allowed at any hour with a supervisor in the car. Kansas requires 10 supervised night hours out of 50 total before you’re eligible for a license. That’s 20% of all your required hours after dark.
Kansas is also one of the few states where you don’t need driver’s ed, and where permits are available at 14. Those two things together make it one of the more accessible systems in the country.
When Does “Night” Start in Kansas?
Kansas defines night as sunset to sunrise. The clock doesn’t matter. What matters is where the sun is.
In Wichita, sunset is around 5:05 PM in December and pushes to nearly 9:00 PM by late June. That’s a nearly 4-hour swing across the year. A 6 PM drive in January is night. The same drive in July is not.
On paper, that sounds simple. In practice, it means the window shifts daily — by a minute or two every day — and you can’t just memorize a fixed time. Families who log manually often get this wrong, counting a drive that started 10 minutes before sunset as a night hour. That matters when your log gets reviewed.
Curfew Rules
There’s no curfew for Kansas permit holders. A 14-year-old with a permit can drive at midnight with a qualified supervisor and it’s fully legal.
Kansas does impose curfew restrictions for the restricted license (available at age 15) and for the regular license under 16. But at the permit stage, the only restriction is the presence of a licensed adult supervisor who’s at least 21.
Getting Your 10 Night Hours Done
10 hours over a 12-month hold period works out to less than one hour per month — but you shouldn’t pace it that way. Spreading it that thin means you’re never building any rhythm with night driving, and the hours feel harder the less frequently you do them.
One night drive per week is a much better cadence. At 30 minutes per drive, you’d have 10 hours done in about 5 months. That leaves the back half of your permit period for practice without any clock pressure.
Winter is the easiest time to log night hours in Kansas. Sunset at 5:05 PM means a drive to pick up dinner qualifies. From roughly November through February, nearly any after-school or early-evening drive will fall after sunset. If your teen started their permit in fall, knock out the 10 night hours before spring.
A few other things worth knowing:
- Highways count. Night highway driving is actually better practice than circling residential streets. The headlight adjustment, speed, and limited visibility at 70 mph are skills that transfer directly to real-world driving.
- Bad weather nights are worth doing at least once. Rain at night is harder than it looks in daylight. You don’t want your teen’s first experience with it to be unsupervised.
- The restricted license at 15 doesn’t replace the permit. After a 12-month hold, a 14-year-old becomes eligible for the restricted license at 15. That’s a different license type with its own rules, not just an upgrade.
Kansas Permit Requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Total supervised hours | 50 |
| Night hours | 10 |
| Night definition | Sunset to sunrise |
| Permit curfew | None |
| Minimum permit age | 14 |
| Permit hold period | 12 months |
| Supervisor minimum age | 21 |
| Driver’s ed required | No |
Practical Tips
Look up sunset before you drive. In Wichita in October, sunset is around 7:00 PM. By December 1st it’s 5:30 PM. Use a weather app or Moda — don’t guess. A drive that starts 20 minutes before sunset might yield only 20 minutes of night time even if it feels like a full evening drive.
Log every session, not just night sessions. Kansas wants 50 total hours tracked. If your paper log has gaps, or if you forget to note start and end times, you may have to start over. Keep the habit from day one.
The no-driver’s-ed rule doesn’t mean skip it. Kansas doesn’t legally require driver’s education. But teens who complete a formal course have lower crash rates in the first year of independent driving. The supervised hours still need to happen.
Moda logs your hours automatically, checks sunset against your GPS location, and tells you whether a given session counts as day or night. Your log is exportable and ready when you need it.
For full Kansas permit requirements, see our Kansas permit hours guide.
Download: Moda on the App Store