Tennessee permit holders cannot drive between 10 PM and 6 AM. That’s the curfew, and it’s also the exact window that defines “night” for your practice log. You need 10 hours in that window before you can apply for a license.

One thing to get straight before anything else: a drive at 9 PM on a dark December night does not count as night in Tennessee. The clock decides, not the sun.

What Tennessee Calls “Night”

Tennessee uses fixed clock times: 10 PM to 6 AM. It doesn’t matter when the sun went down. Nashville sees sunset around 4:40 PM in December, which means it’s been dark for over 5 hours before Tennessee’s “night” even starts. That December 9 PM drive? Day hours.

This is different from sunset-based states. In Oregon or Texas, darkness triggers the night definition. In Tennessee, only the clock matters. A drive starting at 10:01 PM counts as night. A drive ending at 9:59 PM doesn’t.

Curfew Rules

The curfew and the night window are the same: 10 PM to 6 AM. Permit holders are restricted from driving during this block.

That creates the same planning challenge as Oklahoma and South Dakota: the hours you need to log are in a window you technically can’t drive. The solution, as in those states, typically runs through a licensed driver’s education program. Most Tennessee driving schools schedule night driving sessions that count toward the permit log and are authorized beyond standard permit restrictions.

If you’re doing the permit without driver’s ed (no driver’s ed is required in Tennessee), contact the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security directly. Confirm how families without a formal program satisfy the 10 night hours requirement. Do this early, not when you’re finishing up hour 45.

Getting Your Night Hours Done

10 night hours out of 50 total. If you’re in a driver’s ed program, ask about scheduled night sessions in your first week. Most programs build them in, but you need to show up and log them properly.

If you’re going the self-directed route, coordinate with the DPS. The state’s rules require supervised night practice to happen. They just require the supervision to be properly authorized.

One thing that helps: the 10 PM to 6 AM window gives you 8 hours per night to work with. You don’t need to drive for the whole window. Two 45-minute sessions in a week gets you 1.5 hours. At that pace, 10 hours takes about 7 weeks. Start that early and you’re done with night hours before you’re halfway through the permit period.

Tennessee Permit Requirements

Requirement	Details
Total supervised hours	50
Night hours required	10
Night window	10 PM to 6 AM (fixed)
Permit curfew	10 PM to 6 AM
Minimum permit age	15
Permit hold period	6 months
Supervisor minimum age	21
Driver’s ed required	No

Practical Tips

Don’t assume darkness counts. In Tennessee, it doesn’t. Nashville sees over 5 hours of darkness before 10 PM in December. None of it counts toward night hours. If you’ve been logging 6 PM drives as night all winter, those hours need to be recategorized.

Rural Tennessee is different from Nashville at night. Unlit county roads with no lane markings, deer crossings, and no cell signal require different habits than urban interstates. If you’re in a rural area, factor that into which roads you practice on after 10 PM.

Tennessee doesn’t require driver’s ed, but the hold period is 6 months regardless. There’s no shortcut on the time.

Talk to your supervisor before the first night session. Knowing where you’re going, what the plan is if something goes wrong, and how long the session will be makes the experience less stressful for both of you.

Tracking Your Hours

Tennessee’s fixed night window makes categorization simple: before 10 PM is day, 10 PM or after is night. But you still need running totals, accurate timestamps, and a log the DPS accepts. Moda tracks Tennessee’s rules automatically. Start a session, drive, stop, and the app handles the categorization and totals.

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

Download: Moda on the App Store

Stop manually tracking hours. Moda logs driving automatically.

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