How to Fill Out the Ohio 50-Hour Driving Log (Step-by-Step)

Ohio law requires every teen driver under 18 to complete 50 hours of supervised driving practice — including at least 10 hours at night — before they can take the road test. Those hours are tracked on a paper or PDF log that you bring to the BMV at the road test, signed by a parent or legal guardian. Here's how to fill it out so you don't get sent home.

What counts as a supervised hour

• The teen must be holding a valid Ohio TIPIC (Temporary Instruction Permit Identification Card).
• A parent, legal guardian, or licensed adult age 21+ must be in the front passenger seat the entire time.
• The supervising driver must be physically and legally able to take control of the vehicle.
• Time spent driving counts. Time spent parked, eating, or pulled over does not.
• Night hours = any time between sunset and sunrise. Keep them separate.

What to write on the log

Ohio's standard 50-hour parent-teen log asks for the date, the start and end time of each drive, total hours that drive, and whether any of those hours were nighttime. Most parents fill it out after each drive — don't try to reconstruct months of hours from memory the week of the road test. The BMV examiner can ask follow-up questions if the log looks suspicious.

Common mistakes that get teens turned away

1. Forgetting to log the 10 night hours separately — the BMV will count zero night hours if the column is blank.
2. Logging hours before the TIPIC was issued (those don't count, even if the teen had a learner permit from another state).
3. Parent signature missing, or signature not matching the parent's ID at the BMV.
4. Hours that are physically impossible — like 8 hours of driving in one day when school records show the teen was in class.
5. Bringing the log on a phone screen. The BMV requires the printed/PDF document, not a photo.

Where to get the official log form

The official form is the Ohio BMV Fifty Hour Affidavit (BMV 5791) — it includes the supervised driving log and the affidavit the supervising adult signs when the 50 hours are done. Download it below, print it, fill it out as you go, and keep it in the glovebox so you never forget a drive.

Prefer your phone? Ohio's free RoadReady Ohio app (from the Ohio Traffic Safety Office) tracks your practice drives automatically — including night hours — scores each drive, and generates the completed log when you hit 50 hours. Paper and app both count; use whichever your family will actually keep up with.