How to Keep Your License: Junior and Probationary Rules, Tickets, Mandatory Revocations, the Point System and Fees
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 2 "How to Keep Your License" (pp. 19–24).
Suspension, revocation and driving privilege
A suspension takes the license away for a period and then returns it, usually after a suspension termination fee. A revocation cancels the license: when the period ends you must reapply to DMV, pay a re-application fee, and may be refused for a poor record; revocation periods can run longer than the minimums. A driving privilege is the courtesy that lets out-of-state drivers drive here, and the permission for an unlicensed person to get a New York license; it can be suspended or revoked for the same reasons, with the same penalties for driving while it is suspended or revoked.
Junior permits and licenses
A junior permit, license or privilege is suspended for 60 days on conviction of one serious violation (three points or more) or two other violations; the same offenses within the first six months after getting the license back bring a 60-day revocation. A texting or cell phone conviction suspends a junior permit or license for 120 days. A junior permit must be held six months, not counting suspended or revoked time, before a road test can be scheduled.
Probation for new drivers 18 and older
A driver who passes the road test at 18 or older, or gets a license back after a revocation, is on probation for six months. Conviction of DWAI (alcohol), speeding, reckless driving, following too closely, a speed contest, or any two traffic violations during probation brings a 60-day suspension, followed by a new six-month probation; a repeat during that second period brings a revocation of at least six months, followed by another six months of probation. A texting or cell phone conviction on probation means a 120-day suspension.
Traffic tickets
Follow the instructions on the ticket at once and enter your plea; ignoring it means an indefinite suspension and possibly a default conviction. In the five boroughs of New York City, non-criminal moving violations go to the DMV Traffic Violations Bureau; elsewhere they go to the local criminal and traffic court. Everyone may present a defense and have a lawyer.
DMV does not record out-of-state moving violations on a non-commercial driver's point record, except offenses in Ontario and Quebec. But failing to answer a moving-violation ticket in any state except Alaska, California, Michigan, Montana, Oregon, Virginia or Wisconsin suspends the New York license until the ticket is answered, and drivers from other states (except those six) are suspended at home for ignoring a New York ticket. A conviction anywhere for criminal negligence, homicide or assault with a vehicle causing death is recorded and revokes the license and possibly the registrations. An out-of-state or Canadian alcohol- or drug-related driving conviction revokes the license for at least 90 days at 21 or older, and at least one year under 21.
Mandatory suspensions and revocations
- Aggravated DWI (.18 BAC or more): minimum one-year revocation.
- DWI (.08 BAC): minimum six-month revocation.
- DWAI-drugs: minimum six-month revocation.
- DWAI-alcohol: 90-day suspension.
- Out-of-state DUI: 90-day to six-month revocation depending on the conviction.
- Chemical test refusal, 21 or older: minimum one-year revocation; within five years of a prior refusal or alcohol or drug violation, minimum 18 months. Under 21: one year the first time, and the second time until age 21 or one year, whichever is longer. Zero Tolerance test refusal: minimum one year.
- Under 21, any alcohol or drug driving conviction: minimum one-year revocation; a second one, one year or until 21, whichever is longer. Under the Zero Tolerance Law, a driver under 21 found with a BAC of .02 to .07 (one drink can produce .02) is suspended six months; a second Zero Tolerance finding revokes for one year or until 21, whichever is longer. Motorboat and snowmobile operators under 21 who drink face similar sanctions.
- Revocation of at least six months for leaving the scene of a personal-injury or fatal crash; one speed-contest conviction (a second within 12 months revokes for at least a year); three speeding and/or misdemeanor violations within 18 months (by violation date); or three "passing a stopped school bus" violations within three years.
- No insurance: at least one-year revocation for driving, or letting someone drive, your uninsured vehicle, or for being in a crash uninsured. When coverage lapses you must turn in the plates and registration, even if the car is off the road, or face civil penalties and suspensions.
- Indefinite suspension for failing to file a crash report, pay child support, pay taxes, or satisfy a court judgment from a crash, until the condition is corrected.
- After a fatal crash your license can be suspended or revoked after a DMV hearing even if you were not charged.
The point system
Points identify persistent violators. They count from the date of the violation, not the conviction, and the traffic laws also apply in parking lots open to the public. 11 or more points within 24 months brings a suspension notice; a hearing can only show the convictions were not yours.
| Violation | Points |
|---|---|
| Speeding 1 to 10 mph over | 3 |
| Speeding 11 to 20 mph over | 4 |
| Speeding 21 to 30 mph over | 6 |
| Speeding 31 to 40 mph over | 8 |
| Speeding more than 40 mph over | 11 |
| Reckless driving | 5 |
| Failing to stop for a school bus | 5 |
| Speed contests and races | 5 |
| Improper cell phone use | 5 |
| Texting on a portable electronic device | 5 |
| Railroad crossing violation | 5 |
| Following too closely | 4 |
| Inadequate brakes | 4 |
| Failing to yield the right-of-way | 3 |
| Running a red light | 3 |
| Disobeying a traffic signal, STOP or YIELD sign | 3 |
| Improper passing, unsafe lane change, driving left of center or the wrong way | 3 |
| Leaving the scene of a property-damage incident | 3 |
| Child safety restraint violation | 3 |
| Most other moving violations, failure to signal, improper turn, disobeying a traffic control device | 2 |
| Tinted window, unlicensed, uninspected, faulty equipment | 0 |
Insurance companies have their own point systems, unrelated to DMV's. A DMV-approved Motor Vehicle Crash Prevention Course cuts up to four points and saves up to 10 percent on liability and collision premiums, but cannot prevent a mandatory suspension or revocation, cannot be banked against future points, and does not reduce a Driver Responsibility Assessment.
Fees, civil penalties and assessments
A fixed-period suspension ends only after a non-refundable $50 suspension termination fee; a Zero Tolerance suspension costs a $125 civil penalty plus a $100 termination fee. After a revocation you pay a $100 re-application fee, except for an uninsured-operation revocation or a conditional or restricted license. Civil penalties before a new license is accepted: $750 for operating or crashing without insurance; $500 for a chemical test refusal ($550 in a commercial vehicle); $750 for a refusal within five years of an earlier alcohol, drug or refusal revocation.
School bus stop-arm cameras (a 2019 law) fine the vehicle owner for passing a stopped bus with its red lights flashing: $250 for the first violation, more for a second and $300 for a third or later within 18 months.
The Driver Responsibility Assessment is paid on top of fines: $250 a year for three years after a conviction for Aggravated DWI, DWI, DWAI, DWAI-drugs, combined alcohol and drugs, or a chemical test refusal; and $100 a year for three years once you reach six points in 18 months, plus $25 a year per additional point. Not paying suspends the permit, license or privilege. It applies to motor vehicles and in some cases motorboats and snowmobiles, and a crash prevention course does not reduce it.
Driving while suspended or revoked
A criminal offense with mandatory fines of $200 to $5,000, possible mandatory jail or probation, and possible seizure and forfeiture of the vehicle. Penalties are harsher for driving intoxicated or impaired while already suspended or revoked for an alcohol or drug incident. Drivers with 10 or more suspensions for unanswered tickets face severe penalties, and 20 or more brings a criminal charge even if you were not driving when arrested.
Practise this with New York Driver License questions
More of this guide
Class D, DJ, E and M licenses, REAL ID and Enhanced licenses, the six-point proof system, the 20-question written test, learner permit rules by region, junior license restrictions, the 5-hour course and road test, and renewals.
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.