Supervised practice and driver education in Indiana

By the end of this topic you can

• You can state Indiana's supervised driving hour and night-hour requirements.
• You can identify who is allowed to supervise you at your age.
• You can describe what an Indiana driver education course includes.
• You can complete and submit the BMV practice log correctly.
• You can plan practice that covers a range of roads and conditions.

What you need to know and understand

• You must complete at least 50 hours of supervised driving, with at least 10 hours at night.
• Hours go on the BMV Log of Supervised Driving Practice, State Form 54706, which you hand in when you apply for your license.
• If you are under 18, a parent or legal guardian must sign the log.
• Under 18, a non-instructor supervisor must be a licensed driver aged 25 or older related to you by blood, marriage or legal status, or your licensed spouse aged 21 or older.
• At 18 or older, any licensed driver aged 25 or older, or your licensed spouse aged 21 or older, may supervise.
• The supervisor must sit in the front passenger seat and hold a valid license that is not expired, suspended or revoked.
• Driver education is 30 hours of classroom (or approved online) training plus six hours of behind-the-wheel training.
• Completing driver education does not replace the 50-hour log.

Who can sit beside you

For a teen under 18, the supervisor can be a BMV-licensed driving instructor working for a driver training school, a BMV-recognized driver rehabilitation specialist, a licensed relative aged 25 or older, or a licensed spouse aged 21 or older. Teens in the care of the Department of Child Services may also practice with a licensed adult aged 25 or older approved by DCS.

Once you are 18, the relative rule falls away: any licensed driver aged 25 or older can supervise, as can a licensed spouse aged 21 or older. A 22-year-old friend or sibling does not qualify at any age.

What driver education covers

A BMV-licensed course has two parts: 30 hours of theory, which can be taken in a classroom or through an approved online program, and six hours of behind-the-wheel instruction. You must be 15 to enroll in either part. If you take online theory first, check that your chosen driving school accepts that online program.

Driver education brings two big benefits. It lets you get a permit at 15 instead of 16, and it lowers the minimum license age to 16 instead of 16 years and 270 days. Many schools can also give the driving skills exam.

Filling in the practice log

1. Download State Form 54706 from the BMV or ask your driving school for it.
2. After each drive, fill in the details the form asks for, keeping a clear note of which hours were driven at night.
3. Use more than one log sheet if you need to.
4. Make sure at least 10 hours are at night, unless your permit carries the daytime-only restriction (G), in which case you still need all 50 hours.
5. Have a parent or guardian sign the log if you are under 18, and bring it to the branch when you apply for your license.

Making the hours count

The manual's advice for parents is to expose teens to wet roads, snow, highways, rural roads and night driving, and to practice on unfamiliar roads, not just the route to school. Our separate 50-hour log checklist breaks this into stages.

Common mistakes

• Practicing with an older sibling or friend under 25. Their hours do not count and the drive is not legal on a permit.
• Leaving night driving until the last week, when it is hard to fit in 10 hours.
• Thinking driver education replaces the log. All new drivers still need the 50 hours.
• Forgetting the parent or guardian signature, which means the BMV cannot accept the log.

Test yourself: Supervised practice and driver education in Indiana

Answer each question, then read the explanation. Questions come in a random order each time.

Go deeper

• Indiana 50-Hour Driving Log and Driver Education Checklist
• Indiana Permit Practice Test
• Indiana Bioptic Driver Program