Alabama's graduated licensing law expects 50 hours of supervised driving before a teen moves from the Stage I learner's license to the Stage II restricted license at 16. A parent or guardian certifies the hours. Completing a state-approved driver education course is the alternative path in place of the 50-hour certification. Alabama does not publish a separate night-hours minimum, which is unusual — but that does not make night practice optional in any practical sense.
Alabama supervised driving requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Alabama |
|---|---|
| Total supervised hours | 50 hours (commonly cited; certified by a parent or guardian) |
| Night hours | No separate night minimum published by ALEA |
| Professional / instructor hours | None required — an approved driver education course is an alternative to the 50-hour certification, not an addition to it |
| Minimum permit age | 15 (Stage I learner's license) |
| Permit holding period | 6 months on the Stage I permit before applying for the Stage II restricted license at 16 |
| Permit validity | Alabama learner's licenses are issued on a multi-year term — check the expiration date printed on the card |
| Who may supervise | Licensed driver 21 or older, seated beside the driver |
| Official log form | No standalone statewide log PDF. Parent or guardian certification is made at the license office. |
| Certification method | Parent or guardian certifies the supervised driving when the Stage II application is submitted |
| State app or program | None. Alabama does not publish an official hour-logging app. |
Who can supervise practice driving in Alabama
Alabama keeps the supervision rule short, which means the burden is on you to get it right the first time.
- A licensed driver at least 21 years old must occupy the seat beside the permit holder for the entire drive.
- A licensed or certified driving instructor also satisfies the requirement during a lesson.
- The supervisor has to be in the front passenger seat — a licensed adult in the back seat does not count, and neither does a parent standing in the driveway.
Night hours, and what "night" means here
Alabama does not publish a specific night-hours minimum the way most states do, so there is no number to hit and no official definition of "night" to work against. That is a low bar, not a good reason to skip it. Practically speaking, plan on at least 10 hours after dark anyway: headlight glare, judging distance at night, and unlit rural two-lanes are exactly the conditions new drivers handle worst, and they are the conditions Alabama's Stage II night restriction (midnight to 6 AM, with exceptions) exists because of. Tag night drives in your log as you go so you can see the balance, even though no one is going to ask you for the number.
What counts as a loggable hour
- Public-road driving with a qualified supervisor counts. The trip to school, errands, highway miles, practice loops around the neighborhood — it all counts as long as the permit holder is at the wheel and the supervising driver is in the front passenger seat.
- Time parked, idling, or waiting in a drive-through does not count. Log driving time, not trip time.
- Empty parking lots and closed courses generally do not count. The point of the requirement is real traffic.
- Hours before the permit was issued do not count. The permit has to be in hand first.
- Track night drives even though Alabama does not require it. If your family moves out of state mid-permit — which happens more than you would think — the next state almost certainly does require a night count, and reconstructing it from memory is miserable.
How to actually get to 50 hours
Fifty hours across a six-month permit period works out to about two hours a week, or roughly twenty minutes of driving on five days out of seven. That is the school run and one weekend errand. Families who try to bank it in weekend blocks tend to stall out around hour 30 — the drives get long, everyone gets tense, and it stops happening. Short, frequent, boring drives are what actually accumulate.
Official Alabama resources
- Alabama Law Enforcement Agency — Driver License — the state's driver license home, including the graduated driver license rules and the Stage II application steps
- Alabama Driver Manual — the handbook the permit test is written from
Tracking your hours
Alabama does not hand you a form, which means the record you bring is whatever you built. A notebook in the glovebox is fine. So is a spreadsheet. The only thing that matters is that a parent or guardian can honestly certify the total when you get to the license office.
PermitReady is a free iPhone and iPad app that does two things: practice questions for the ALEA permit test, and a supervised driving hours log. Each drive is one entry — date, duration, and condition tags including night, highway, rain, and heavy traffic — with a running total at the top so you always know how far you have left to go. Entries can be backdated, so a log you started late can still be complete. It works offline, and there is no account to create: nothing is uploaded, and the log lives on the phone.
Honest limits: PermitReady does not detect drives automatically, does not use GPS, is iPhone and iPad only, and does not generate a signed state affidavit. It is a record you copy from when you fill in any certification ALEA asks for. If you would rather have automatic drive detection or an Android app, RoadReady has both — we compare them directly in PermitReady vs RoadReady. There is also a full write-up of the driving log and a set of printable paper templates if you would rather keep it on paper.
Frequently asked questions
How many supervised driving hours does Alabama require?
50 hours is the figure commonly cited under Alabama's graduated driver license law, certified by a parent or guardian, before a teen moves to the Stage II restricted license at 16. Completing a state-approved driver education course is the alternative to the 50-hour certification. Confirm the current requirement with ALEA before you apply.
Does Alabama require night driving hours?
ALEA does not publish a separate night-hours minimum. That makes Alabama one of a small group of states with no night number to hit. Plan on night practice anyway — Stage II carries a midnight-to-6-AM driving restriction, and the hours after dark are where new drivers are weakest.
Does Alabama have an official driving log form?
No statewide log PDF is published. The parent or guardian certifies the supervised driving as part of the Stage II license application, so any honest, dated record you keep — paper, spreadsheet, or app — is what backs that certification up.
Who can supervise practice driving in Alabama?
A licensed driver at least 21 years old, seated beside the permit holder. A licensed driving instructor also qualifies during a lesson.
Can driver education replace the 50 hours in Alabama?
A state-approved driver education course is the alternative path to the Stage II license in place of the parent-certified 50 hours. It replaces the certification rather than reducing it. Check with ALEA which specific courses qualify before you pay for one.
Also for Alabama
Alabama permit test practice · Supervised driving hours log · Printable log templates · Supervised driving hours by state
Verification and disclaimers
Requirements verified August 2026 against Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Driver License Division. Requirements change, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency can revise them without much notice — always confirm the current rules with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency before your road test.
PermitReady's driving hours log is a personal tracking tool. It is not a state form and has not been approved or endorsed by any state licensing agency. Check with your state's DMV, RMV, DPS, BMV, or equivalent agency for which log format they require, and use their official state form if one is mandated.
RoadReady® is a registered trademark of Safe Roads Alliance, Inc. PermitReady is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Safe Roads Alliance, Inc.
PermitReady is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency or any government agency.