Massachusetts doesn’t require a single night hour. Zero. You can log all 40 supervised hours during broad daylight and meet every legal requirement for your license. That’s the actual rule.

But here’s the thing: your teen is going to drive at night the week they get that license. The law doesn’t prepare them for it. You have to.

What “Night” Means in Massachusetts

Massachusetts defines night as sunset to sunrise, no fixed clock time. The sun sets, night starts. The sun rises, night ends.

That definition shifts by more than 4 hours depending on the season. Boston sunsets range from about 4:10 PM in December to 8:15 PM in June. A 7 PM drive counts as night in January. The exact same drive in July doesn’t.

If you’re tracking on paper, you’d need to look up your local sunset time before every session. Moda does this automatically from your GPS location, so the day/night split is always accurate without any extra effort.

No Permit Curfew in Massachusetts

Massachusetts doesn’t restrict when permit holders can drive. There’s no after-hours cutoff. You can practice at 10 PM or midnight if you want. The only rule is that a licensed supervisor at least 21 years old has to be in the car.

That makes Massachusetts unusually flexible compared to states that restrict permit holders to certain hours. Use it.

Why Practice Night Hours Anyway

Visibility drops. Signs are harder to read. Depth perception suffers. Glare from oncoming headlights takes adjustment. None of that shows up in a daytime session, and none of it gets easier by avoiding it.

The statistics are pointed here. About 50% of fatal teen crashes happen at night, but teens drive far less than 50% of their miles after dark. Night driving is disproportionately dangerous, and the solution is practice, not avoidance.

Massachusetts being the only state with 0 required night hours doesn’t mean 0 is the right number. It just means the law won’t force the issue. You should.

What to actually do: treat night hours like any other requirement. Aim for at least 10 sessions after sunset before the road test. Start in well-lit suburbs. Work up to rural roads and highway driving. The goal is exposure to the conditions your teen will actually face, not a number on a form.

Massachusetts Permit Requirements

Requirement	Details
Total supervised hours	40
Required night hours	0
Night definition	Sunset to sunrise
Permit curfew	None
Minimum permit age	16
Permit hold period	6 months
Supervisor minimum age	21
Driver’s ed required	Yes (under 18)

Practical Tips for Night Practice

Start in December. Boston sunset is around 4:10 PM in mid-December. A drive that starts at 4:30 PM is a night drive. You don’t have to stay up late to get the hours. Just leave the house before 5.

Vary the conditions. Clear night, overcast night, light rain: each one is different. Rain at night is harder than either alone. Get that practice in before your teen encounters it solo.

Brief the passenger. The supervising adult should know what to watch for specifically: over-correction on high beams when oncoming traffic approaches, following distance at speed (it needs to increase at night), and the tendency to fixate on headlights instead of road edges.

Pick routes you know. The first few night sessions should be familiar roads. Unfamiliar roads plus darkness plus a new driver is a lot of unknowns at once.

Night hours aren’t on the form Massachusetts gives you, but track them anyway. Knowing your teen has done 12 sessions after dark is useful information when you’re deciding whether they’re ready for their test.

Moda logs every session with a day/night split automatically. You’ll always know exactly where you stand.

For full Massachusetts permit requirements, see our Massachusetts permit hours guide.

Download: Moda on the App Store

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