Driver Licenses in New York: License Classes, Applying, the Learner Permit, Junior Restrictions, the Road Test and Renewals
Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the New York State Class D knowledge (written) test. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.
Source: New York State Driver's Manual (MV-21), New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, chapter 1 "Driver Licenses" (pp. 6–18).
Who may drive in New York
You need a valid driver license. A resident of another state or country with a valid license there may drive in New York, but no one under 16 may drive in New York State, even with an out-of-state license. Someone who moves here must turn in the out-of-state license and get a New York license within 30 days of becoming a resident; holding a New York license and another state's license at the same time is illegal, as is holding more than one commercial license. Altering or forging any motor vehicle document, including a license, is a crime punishable by suspension or revocation and prosecution.
Classes of non-commercial license
- Class D, Operator: minimum age 18, or 17 with a driver education Certificate of Completion. Vehicles with a GVWR of 26,000 pounds or less; towing a vehicle of 10,000 pounds or less, or more than that if the combined rating is no more than 26,000 pounds; also Class B and C mopeds.
- Class DJ, Junior Operator: minimum age 16. Vehicles of 10,000 pounds GVWR or less, towing 3,000 pounds or less; Class B and C mopeds. Restricted in where, when and with whom you may drive.
- Class E, Taxi/Livery: minimum age 18; the same vehicles as Class D plus carrying passengers for hire in a vehicle for 14 or fewer passengers. A vehicle defined as a bus under Article 19-A (a school car, a van for disabled people) needs a CDL whatever its size.
- Class M, Motorcycle: age 18, or 17 with driver education; motorcycles and mopeds. Class MJ, Junior Motorcycle: age 16, with junior restrictions. A motorcycle class and another class print on one document (for example "Class DM").
- A CDL is required for a vehicle over 26,000 pounds GVWR, a combination over 26,000 pounds with a towed unit over 10,000 pounds, a vehicle built or used to carry 15 or more people besides the driver, any Article 19-A bus, or a vehicle carrying placarded hazardous materials.
- Enhanced Driver License (EDL): for U.S. citizens resident in New York; serves instead of a passport at land and sea crossings to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean, and for domestic air travel.
- REAL ID: the federal standard for licenses used to board domestic flights and enter military bases and certain federal facilities; a REAL ID or Enhanced license is needed for those, and it can only be issued at a DMV office, never online, by phone or by mail. It requires proof of identity, Social Security number (or ineligibility), date of birth, U.S. citizenship or lawful status, and two proofs of New York residence (no P.O. box), plus a new photo. A card issued without it is marked "Not for Federal Purposes."
- "R" endorsement (personal use vehicle): for rental or recreational vehicles over 26,000 pounds GVWR or 40 feet long carrying personal household goods, on a Class D or E license; a road test (no written test) of about 15 minutes, accompanied by a driver at least 21 licensed for that vehicle.
Applying for your first license
Complete an Application for Driver License (MV-44), prove your name and date of birth, give your Social Security number, pay the fees, pass the vision and knowledge tests, and, for most drivers, complete an approved 5-hour Pre-Licensing Course and pass a road test. A first license is issued for up to 5 years, expiring on your month and day of birth.
Proof of name uses a point system: you need documents totaling six points or more, and at least one must carry your signature. A New York photo license, permit or non-driver ID (current or expired no more than two years) is worth 6 points; a U.S. passport or passport card, foreign passport with visa and I-94 or I-551, consular ID, foreign photo license, or another state's or Canadian province's photo license is worth 4 points; permanent resident and employment authorization cards, U.S. military ID and similar documents are worth 3 points; a military dependent ID, a Social Security card, bank statements, employee ID, utility bills, a diploma, a W-2, health insurance card and many others are worth 2 points; a major credit card or a benefit card with photo is worth 1 point. Proof of age takes any one of a birth certificate from a U.S. vital records office, a New York certificate of birth registration, a U.S. military photo ID, a U.S. passport, a foreign passport with immigration documents, or a certificate of citizenship or naturalization. All proofs must be in English or carry a certified translation.
Vision and knowledge tests
Vision: 20/40 in at least one eye, with or without corrective lenses.
Written (knowledge) test for Class D, M, DJ, MJ or E: the rules of the road, safe driving, road signs, and the alcohol and drug laws. It has 20 questions; to pass you must answer at least 14 correctly, including at least two of the four road-sign questions. It is offered in several languages on touch-screen stations or on paper. Students at least 15 years and 11 months old can take it at participating high schools through the Online Knowledge Test Application (OKTA), in English or Spanish, and can retake it online as often as the school allows; at 16 the receipt and forms go to a motor vehicle office for the permit.
The learner permit
Passing the vision and written tests and paying the fees gets you the permit. While practising you must be supervised by a licensed driver at least 21, licensed for the type of vehicle, seated beside you in the front seat. In New York City and Long Island the supervisor must be a parent, guardian or driving instructor. No permit holder may drive in a DMV road test area, on any street within a park in New York City or any bridge or tunnel of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, or on the Cross County, Hutchinson River, Saw Mill River or Taconic State parkways in Westchester County.
Junior learner permit (under 18, Graduated Driver Licensing): in New York City you may drive only 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. under the immediate supervision of a parent, guardian, person in loco parentis, driver education teacher, driving school instructor, or someone the parent designates in writing, and never 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. In Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk) the same 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. rule applies with a parent, guardian, in loco parentis, driver education teacher or driving school instructor, and never at night. Upstate you may practise 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. with any properly licensed supervisor aged 21 or older, and 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. only with a parent, guardian, in loco parentis, driver education teacher or driving school instructor. A junior permit holder may carry no more than one passenger under 21 unless they are immediate family or the supervisor is a parent, guardian, in loco parentis, driver education teacher or driving school instructor; only the supervising driver may sit in the front seat; everyone wears a belt and every child uses a proper restraint.
Preparing for and taking the road test
Practise at least 50 hours, with at least 15 hours after sunset and ideally 10 hours in moderate to heavy traffic, on expressways as well as city streets. Before you can book the road test you must complete the safe driving course requirement: a high school or college driver education course, or the 5-hour Pre-Licensing Course at a licensed driving school (an online version exists for drivers 18 and older). The in-person course certificate (MV-278) is valid for one year. The DMV's Point and Insurance Reduction Program does not satisfy this requirement.
A junior permit must be held at least six months before the road test. At the test you give the examiner the MV-278 or have a driver education Student Certificate of Completion (MV-285) on file, your photo permit, and a completed Certification of Supervised Driving (MV-262) in which a parent or guardian certifies the 50 hours including 15 after sunset. Bring a correctly registered, inspected, insured and equipped vehicle in good order, with a clean, working passenger seat belt for the examiner; if you drive to the site, bring a supervising driver at least 21 licensed for the vehicle. Motorcycle applicants bring a car and a licensed driver to carry the examiner. Book online or by phone with your permit and course certificate at hand; DMV may cancel tests for bad weather. After passing, an interim license is available online and the photo license arrives by mail in about two weeks.
The Point and Insurance Reduction Program (PIRP), the DMV-certified Crash Prevention or Defensive Driving Course, in a classroom or online (I-PIRP), can remove up to four points from your record once every 18 months and earns a minimum 10 percent reduction in the base liability and collision premiums for three years.
Junior license restrictions (Class DJ and MJ)
A junior license holder may carry no more than one passenger under 21 unless they are immediate family, and everyone must be belted. Where you may drive alone depends on the region:
- New York City: a junior license is not valid at all; you may not drive.
- Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk): 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., alone only directly between home and employment, a work-study program, a college course, a registered evening high school, a driver education course, or farm work, or accompanied by a licensed parent, guardian, in loco parentis, driver education teacher or driving school instructor; 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., alone only directly between home and a work-study program, a college or evening high school course, driver education, or farm work.
- Upstate: 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., you may drive unaccompanied; 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., alone only directly between home and employment or a school course, and otherwise only with a licensed parent, guardian or person in loco parentis.
Driving alone to work requires proof: a Certificate of Employment (MV-58A) with your name, birth date, license number, job, days, hours and location and the employer's contact details, or, upstate only, a dated, signed employer letter on the business details. Driving alone to a school course or work-study needs a dated, signed letter on the school's letterhead with the official's contact details and the dates, hours and place.
Definitions: a guardian has assumed a parent's role by court appointment; in loco parentis is someone acting as a parent with the parent's implied or actual consent; a school course is state-licensed or approved instruction (or U.S. Armed Forces training) for scholastic credit; employment means a scheduled paid job, and you may not drive as part of the job; a medical appointment is necessary treatment for you or a household member; daycare travel counts when it lets a family member work or attend school.
To turn a junior license into a senior license you need the driver education Student Certificate of Completion (MV-285) on file and must return the junior license at a motor vehicle office; otherwise the junior restrictions apply until 18, when the senior license comes automatically. A junior motorcycle permit or license (M or MJ) allows no passenger except the supervising driver, who must be licensed for the same class of motorcycle and stay within one-quarter mile. You may drive outside New York on a permit or junior license only where the other state allows it, obeying its restrictions.
Address changes and renewals
Report a new address within 10 days, by mail on form MV-232 or online, and write it on the back of the license. You are responsible for renewing on time; a notice normally arrives about 45 days before expiry, and you may renew up to one year early. Renewing by mail or online requires an Eye Test Report (MV-619) from a health care professional showing you passed a vision test within the past six months (or one year, as the professional determines). Entering military service extends the license through active service and six months after discharge if you notify DMV within 60 days on form MV-75.
New residents and visitors
A visitor licensed elsewhere may drive here and should not apply for a New York license until becoming a resident, then must do so within 30 days. A new resident with a valid license from a U.S. state or territory or a Canadian province turns in that license, shows proof of name and date of birth and a Social Security number, and passes the vision test; if the license has been valid for less than six months or expired more than a year ago, the written and road tests and the safe driving course are required too. A new resident licensed in a country other than Canada must pass the vision test, complete the safe driving course, and pass the written and road tests, surrendering the foreign license to the examiner (it is destroyed unless you ask in writing that DMV hold it). Out-of-state learner and junior drivers under 18 must obey both New York's restrictions and their home state's.
Practise this with New York Driver License questions
More of this guide
The 60-day and 120-day junior sanctions, the six-month probation for new drivers, mandatory suspensions and revocations, the Zero Tolerance law, the point system with the 11-points-in-24-months rule, and the Driver Responsibility Assessment.
Registering and titling a car, proof of ownership and disclosure statements, liens, sales tax, the 25/50/10 liability minimums, turning in plates, and the annual safety and emissions inspection.
Sign shapes and colors, STOP and YIELD, every traffic light including turns on red and the New York City rule, lane-use control lights, edge and lane lines, stop lines and crosswalks, diamond lanes, and traffic officers.
Who yields at intersections, emergency vehicles and the Move Over law, blue, green and amber lights, turn positions lane by lane, where U-turns are illegal, when you may pass on the right, stopping for school buses, parallel parking and where you may never park.
The two-second rule, the 55 mph default and 25 mph in New York City, seat belt and child seat law with fines and points, doubled work-zone fines, how to drive a roundabout, drowsy driving, the hand-held phone and texting penalties, and vehicle checks.
What alcohol does, the .05, .08 and .18 thresholds, chemical test refusals, the full penalty table for DWAI, DWI and aggravated DWI, ignition interlocks, repeat-offender rules, and the under-21 and open-container laws.
Grade crossing rules and what to do when stalled on tracks, entering and leaving expressways, headlight and high-beam rules, hydroplaning, winter driving and skids, deer season, and every emergency from blowouts to going into water.
Yielding to pedestrians and blind pedestrians, bicycle rules and equipment, why motorcycles are hard to see, moped classes, truck blind spots and stopping distance, what to do and report after a crash, and which driver assistance features the road test allows.