The Illinois 50-hour driving log is form DSD X 152, and you fill it out one session at a time: date, start and end times, total hours, a split between daytime and nighttime, and a signature from the adult who supervised that drive.1Illinois Secretary of State. Driving Log for Under Age 18 Applicants You need 50 hours in total, with at least 10 of them at night, before you can apply for your license.2Illinois Secretary of State. Graduated Driver’s License The form is straightforward, but sloppy or incomplete entries are the most common reason logs get questioned at the Driver Services facility, so it’s worth getting the habits right from your first session.
The log applies to permit holders under 18. If you’re 18 or older and applying for your first Illinois license, the 50-hour practice requirement and the DSD X 152 form don’t apply to you.1Illinois Secretary of State. Driving Log for Under Age 18 Applicants
Get the Form and Set Up Before You Drive
Download the “50-Hour Practice Driving Log” (form DSD X 152) from the Illinois Secretary of State’s website, or pick up a paper copy at any Driver Services facility.1Illinois Secretary of State. Driving Log for Under Age 18 Applicants Print several copies before you start. A single sheet fills up quickly once you’re driving regularly.
Keep all your sheets together in a folder or binder. You’ll be logging hours over at least nine months, and loose pages get lost. Store the current sheet in the glove compartment so you can fill it in right after each drive. Use a pen, not a pencil.
What Each Entry Needs
Each row on the log represents one practice session. For every session, record:
- The full date (month, day, year).
- The exact start and end times. Pick one format, 3:00 PM or 15:00, and use it throughout.
- The total hours driven. A session from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM is 1.5 hours. Don’t round up. Examiners see hundreds of these logs and can spot padding.
- The daytime and nighttime split for that session.
- The supervising driver’s signature. This is not optional and cannot be done in bulk later. Each session needs its own signature at the time.
Write legibly. If you make an error, draw a single line through it and write the correct information next to it. Skip correction fluid and heavy scribbling. Entries that look altered raise questions you don’t want.
Fill the row in within a minute or two of parking. The number-one way people lose hours is by driving, forgetting to log it, and later not remembering exactly when the session was or how long it ran.
Splitting Daytime and Nighttime Hours
Illinois defines nighttime driving as the period between sunset and sunrise.2Illinois Secretary of State. Graduated Driver’s License The cutoff shifts with the seasons. A drive starting at 7:00 PM in June might be entirely daytime; the same start time in December falls mostly after dark.
When one session spans both daylight and darkness, split the time between the two columns. If you drive from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM on a January evening and sunset was at 5:45 PM, log 15 minutes as daytime and 60 minutes as nighttime. Check sunset times for your area on any weather site so your entries are accurate.
You need at least 10 of your 50 total hours in the nighttime column. Mix evening and early-morning drives in throughout the practice period rather than leaving them all for the end. Winter helps: darkness comes early and naturally extends your nighttime total.
Who Can Sign as Your Supervising Driver
Not every licensed adult qualifies to sign your log. Your supervising driver must be at least 21 years old, hold a valid license for the type of vehicle you’re driving, and have at least one year of driving experience. They must sit in the front passenger seat beside you during the session.3Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 625 ILCS 5/6-107.1
The supervisor can be a parent, legal guardian, other family member, or someone standing in a parental role. During driver education, your adult instructor also counts. You can log hours with different qualifying supervisors, and each signs the entries for the sessions they were in the car for.
Reaching 50 Hours Without Cramming
Averaging about six hours a month gets you to 50 with room to spare. A few ways to keep the total moving:
- Count routine driving. Grocery runs, school pickups, and weekend errands all qualify. You don’t need a special practice route.
- Vary conditions. Highways, residential streets, rain, heavy traffic, parking lots. The log doesn’t ask you to list road types, but diverse experience helps on the road test.
- Log immediately. Keep the form in the glove compartment.
- Don’t marathon it. Ten five-hour sessions crammed into the last few weeks technically satisfies the hour count, but the pattern is visible on the page and the practice doesn’t prepare you for the test.
What the Examiner Checks
When you apply for your license, bring the completed log along with your other required documents.2Illinois Secretary of State. Graduated Driver’s License The examiner confirms three things: that all 50 hours are documented, that at least 10 of them are nighttime, and that every entry has a supervising driver’s signature.
Missing signatures, math that doesn’t add up, or entries that are too illegible to read can get the log rejected, and a rejected log means no driving test that day. Minor issues can sometimes be corrected on the spot. Unsigned sessions or a real shortfall in hours send you home to finish the work and come back.
Falsifying the Log
Padding hours might seem low-risk, but submitting a falsified document to a state agency can result in the denial or suspension of your driving privileges. A log with fabricated entries is a fraudulent application. The other cost is more immediate: showing up for the road test without the experience to pass it. Examiners can tell within the first few minutes whether someone has genuinely spent 50 hours behind the wheel.