Yes, you can drive at night with a Vermont learner permit — and 10 of your 40 required hours must happen after dark. There’s no curfew, no restricted hours for permit holders. Just a supervisor requirement and a clock that starts at sunset.

What “Night” Means in Vermont

Vermont defines night as sunset to sunrise. No fixed time like 9 PM or 10 PM. The sun goes down, night begins.

In Burlington, that means sunset at about 4:05 PM in late December — and as late as 8:30 PM in late June. A 6 PM drive in February? Night hours. That same 6 PM drive in July? Nothing. You’re driving in full daylight.

This is exactly the kind of thing that kills paper logs. Families write down the time but not whether it was before or after sunset. Then they show up at the DMV with 40 hours logged and realize they can’t prove any of it happened at night.

Curfew Rules

Vermont doesn’t restrict when permit holders can drive at night. Any hour works, as long as a licensed supervisor age 25 or older is in the car.

That’s one of the higher supervisor age requirements in the country. Most states set it at 21. Vermont wants someone with at least a few more years behind the wheel.

Getting Your 10 Night Hours Done

Vermont’s 12-month hold period is one of the longest in the country. Most states hold you at 6 months. Vermont gives you a full year — which sounds like a gift, but it also means families spread their 40 hours too thin and end up rushing night hours in month 11.

The math is simple: 10 hours over 12 months is less than one hour per month. Two 30-minute drives a month handles it. Start month one. Don’t leave night hours as a box to check at the end.

Vermont winters make this easy. Burlington sunset sits around 4:05 PM in December. That means any after-school drive in January and February counts automatically as a night hour. You don’t need to stay up late. You just need to drive home after 4 in the afternoon.

The flip side: Vermont summer driving is long-days driving. If you start a permit in June and only drive in the afternoons, you might burn through 25 hours before your first legitimate night session. Don’t let summer lull you.

Vermont also has harsh winters. Snow, ice, reduced visibility — these conditions are real practice, even if they’re not formally tracked separately. A teen who logs 10 night hours in Vermont January probably has more useful driving experience than one who logged them in Arizona in October.

Vermont Permit Requirements

Requirement	Details
Total supervised hours	40
Night hours	10
Night definition	Sunset to sunrise
Minimum permit age	15
Permit hold period	12 months
Supervisor minimum age	25
Driver’s ed	Required (under 18)
Permit curfew	None

Practical Tips

Start night drives in month one. With a 12-month hold, procrastinating night hours until fall or winter means you might be scrambling right before the road test. One night drive in month one takes the pressure off every month after.

Winter is your best window. Sunset before 4:30 PM from November through January means almost any evening drive counts. These also happen to be the most educational conditions — low-light, possible snow, cold roads.

Know who qualifies as a supervisor. Vermont requires 25 and older. An older sibling who just got their license at 22 doesn’t count. A parent does. An aunt or uncle might. Check ages before you assume.

Rural roads at night are different. Vermont has a lot of them. No streetlights, wildlife crossings, uneven pavement. That’s not a reason to avoid them — it’s a reason to drive them with a calm, experienced supervisor who knows the road.

Tracking sunset times manually is a real hassle when they shift by 4 or 5 minutes every few days through spring and fall. Moda tracks your GPS location, pulls actual sunset data, and marks sessions as day or night automatically.

For full Vermont permit requirements, see our Vermont 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.