Behind the Wheel in New York: Practice Hours and Lessons

Before you start: the hour requirement

Teens with a Class DJ or MJ permit must log 50 or more hours of supervised driving before testing, and at least 15 must be after sunset. The DMV also recommends 10 hours or more in moderate to heavy traffic, which is worth taking seriously if your test site is in a busy suburb or city.

You do not file a logbook with the state. A parent or guardian signs the MV-262, the Certification of Supervised Driving. A driver education teacher can also certify hours your teen drove under that teacher, and those count toward the total.

Here is what 50 hours looks like in practice. Permit in January, a two hour session every Saturday plus an hour midweek, and you are done by the end of April, with time to spare before the six month mark in July.

Before you start: who may sit beside your teen

The basic rule is anyone 21 or older, licensed for the vehicle, in the front passenger seat. That includes most parents, siblings over 21 and family friends, subject to the regional limits.

Those limits narrow the list to a parent, guardian, person in loco parentis, driver ed teacher or driving school instructor at certain times: upstate between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., and in New York City and on Long Island around the clock. Long Island lets a parent authorize another adult in writing for daytime drives. New York City requires dual controls, which in practice means a driving school car.

During practice: what paid lessons add

Paid lessons are not required. The 5 hour Pre-Licensing Course involves no driving, so a teen on that route gets every wheel hour from family or from lessons you book on your own.

The 48 hour school or college program is different. Its 24 lab hours include 6 or more of real driving and 6 or more of in-car observation, and the other 12 are more driving, observation or simulation. State Education Department guidelines limit each class period to 90 minutes and schedule instruction between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.

During practice: can parents teach driver ed?

Not formally. New York has no parent-taught driver education program. A temporary pandemic allowance once let parents cover part of a school program's car time, but the State Education Department has since pulled it, and lab hours now have to be taught by a certified teacher.

Parents still carry most of the load, because the 50 supervised hours are your job, start to finish. Your one form is the MV-262.

Choosing a driving school

The DMV's driving school locator searches by city or ZIP code, distance and vehicle type. Before booking, ask whether the school teaches lessons, the Pre-Licensing Course or both, and whether the course is classroom or live virtual.

The DMV has warned about unlicensed schools, whose certificates cannot be accepted. Each school sets its own lesson prices, so get a few quotes.

On road test day: getting there and what to hand over

If your teen drives to the test, a supervising driver 21 or older carrying a physical license has to be in the car. If someone licensed drives your teen there, that person must be over 18. Mobile IDs are not accepted for the companion, and nobody else may ride along.

The examiner will want three things from your teen: the permit with photo, course proof (the paper MV-278, or a DMV record of the MV-285), and your signed hours form. The first available slots are usually 3 to 5 weeks away, up to about 10 weeks at busy times, and after a failed test there is a 14 day minimum wait to retest.