New York Driver License: Keeping Your License

25 questions with the correct answer and an explanation for each. Topic: Keeping Your License. Free, no account needed.

1. A driver's license is suspended for a fixed period rather than revoked. Once that period ends, what typically must happen before driving legally again?

The driver must retake the written knowledge test
The license is returned, usually after paying a suspension termination fee
The driver must reapply to DMV and pay a re-application fee
The license remains suspended indefinitely until a hearing is held

Answer: B — The license is returned, usually after paying a suspension termination fee

A suspension takes the license away temporarily and returns it after the period ends, usually once a suspension termination fee is paid; reapplying and paying a re-application fee is what a revocation requires instead.

2. What is a "driving privilege"?

The right of a New York driver to drive in other states
Proof of financial responsibility required to register a vehicle
A temporary license issued while a suspension appeal is pending
The courtesy that lets an out-of-state driver drive locally, or the permission for an unlicensed person to get a license

Answer: D — The courtesy that lets an out-of-state driver drive locally, or the permission for an unlicensed person to get a license

A driving privilege is described as the courtesy extended to out-of-state drivers and the permission an unlicensed person has to obtain a license; it can be suspended or revoked like a license.

3. A junior license holder with no prior suspension is convicted of a single violation worth four points. What happens to the license?

It is revoked for 60 days
It is suspended for 90 days
It is suspended for 60 days
It is suspended for 120 days

Answer: C — It is suspended for 60 days

A single serious violation of three points or more triggers a 60-day suspension of a junior license; a four-point violation clears that threshold.

4. A junior permit holder is convicted of texting while driving. How long is the permit suspended?

120 days
90 days
six months
60 days

Answer: A — 120 days

A texting or cell phone conviction carries a longer, 120-day suspension for junior permit and license holders, distinct from the 60-day suspension for other violations.

5. A teenager wants to schedule the road test on their junior permit. Not counting any time the permit was suspended or revoked, how long must they have held it first?

Three months
Six months
One year
60 days

Answer: B — Six months

A junior permit must be held for six months, excluding any suspended or revoked time, before a road test can be scheduled.

6. A driver passes the road test at age 20. How long is the probationary period that follows?

Six months
90 days
One year
Two years

Answer: A — Six months

A driver who passes the road test at 18 or older enters a six-month probation period.

7. A driver in their first six months of probation (having passed the road test at 19) is convicted of following too closely. What is the consequence?

Immediate revocation of at least six months
A 120-day suspension
An indefinite suspension pending a hearing
A 60-day suspension, followed by a new six-month probation

Answer: D — A 60-day suspension, followed by a new six-month probation

Conviction of following too closely (among other listed offenses) during probation brings a 60-day suspension followed by a new six-month probation; only a repeat during that second probation escalates to revocation.

8. A driver on probation after passing the road test at 22 is convicted of texting while driving. What happens?

A 90-day suspension
A 60-day suspension
A six-month revocation
A 120-day suspension

Answer: D — A 120-day suspension

A texting or cell phone conviction while on probation results in a 120-day suspension, longer than the 60-day suspension for the other listed probation violations.

9. A driver receives a traffic ticket and never enters a plea or follows its instructions. What happens?

A 60-day suspension only
An indefinite suspension, and possibly a default conviction
A civil penalty but no effect on the license
Automatic one-year revocation

Answer: B — An indefinite suspension, and possibly a default conviction

Ignoring a ticket rather than entering a plea leads to an indefinite suspension and the possibility of a default conviction.

10. A driver gets a non-criminal moving violation ticket in Brooklyn, one of the five boroughs of New York City. Where is the case handled?

The local criminal and traffic court
The county court where the driver lives
The DMV Traffic Violations Bureau
The New York City Department of Finance, which handles parking tickets

Answer: C — The DMV Traffic Violations Bureau

Within the five boroughs, non-criminal moving violations go to the DMV Traffic Violations Bureau; only outside the city do they go to local criminal and traffic court.

11. A non-commercial New York driver gets a moving violation ticket outside New York State. Offenses in which two Canadian provinces are recorded on their New York point record?

Quebec and Manitoba
Ontario and British Columbia
All Canadian provinces equally
Ontario and Quebec

Answer: D — Ontario and Quebec

DMV does not record out-of-state moving violations on a non-commercial driver's point record, with the specific exception of offenses committed in Ontario or Quebec.

12. A New York driver fails to answer a moving-violation ticket issued in Virginia. What happens to their New York license?

Nothing — Virginia is one of the states excepted from that penalty
It is revoked for 90 days
It is suspended for 60 days
It is suspended until the ticket is answered

Answer: A — Nothing — Virginia is one of the states excepted from that penalty

Failing to answer a ticket suspends the New York license until it is answered, except when the ticket was issued in Alaska, California, Michigan, Montana, Oregon, Virginia or Wisconsin.

13. A driver is convicted of Aggravated DWI, with a blood alcohol content of .18. What is the minimum revocation period?

Six months
18 months
One year
90 days

Answer: C — One year

Aggravated DWI, at .18 BAC or more, carries a minimum one-year revocation, longer than the six-month minimum for ordinary DWI.

14. A driver is convicted of DWAI-alcohol, a lesser charge than DWI. What penalty applies?

A 60-day suspension
A 90-day suspension
A six-month revocation
A one-year revocation

Answer: B — A 90-day suspension

DWAI-alcohol carries a 90-day suspension, notably lighter than the six-month revocation minimum for DWI or DWAI-drugs.

15. A 25-year-old driver refuses a chemical test for the first time, with no prior alcohol or drug violations. What is the minimum revocation?

Six months
One year
90 days
18 months

Answer: B — One year

For a driver 21 or older, a first chemical test refusal carries a minimum one-year revocation; 18 months applies only to a refusal within five years of a prior refusal or alcohol/drug violation.

16. A 19-year-old driver is found, for the first time, with a blood alcohol content of .05 under the Zero Tolerance Law. What is the consequence?

Revoked until age 21
Suspended for 90 days
Revoked for one year
Suspended for six months

Answer: D — Suspended for six months

A first Zero Tolerance finding of .02 to .07 BAC for a driver under 21 brings a six-month suspension; only a second such finding escalates to a one-year (or until-21) revocation.

17. A driver is caught operating a vehicle with no insurance. What is the minimum consequence?

A six-month revocation
A 90-day suspension
At least a one-year revocation
An indefinite suspension until insurance is obtained

Answer: C — At least a one-year revocation

Driving, or letting someone else drive, an uninsured vehicle (or being in a crash while uninsured) carries at least a one-year revocation.

18. A driver is ticketed for going 25 mph over the posted speed limit. How many points does that add to their record?

Answer: A — 6

Speeding 21 to 30 mph over the limit is worth 6 points, more than the 4 points for 11-to-20-mph violations and less than the 8 points for 31-to-40-mph violations.

19. A driver is convicted of following another vehicle too closely. How many points does the conviction add?

Answer: B — 4

Following too closely is a 4-point violation, distinct from the 3-point violations like failing to yield and the 2-point "most other moving violations" category.

20. A driver has accumulated 12 points on their record within the past 24 months, all from convictions that were genuinely theirs. What happens?

An indefinite suspension is imposed immediately
DMV sends a suspension notice
Nothing happens unless another violation occurs
The license is automatically revoked

Answer: B — DMV sends a suspension notice

Reaching 11 or more points within 24 months brings a suspension notice; a hearing at that point can only be used to show the convictions were not the driver's.

21. A driver with several points on their record completes a DMV-approved Motor Vehicle Crash Prevention Course. What effect does that have?

It reduces the Driver Responsibility Assessment owed
It erases all points on the record immediately
It cuts up to four points, but cannot prevent a mandatory suspension or revocation
It prevents any future mandatory revocation, even for DWI

Answer: C — It cuts up to four points, but cannot prevent a mandatory suspension or revocation

The course cuts up to four points and lowers insurance premiums, but it cannot prevent a mandatory suspension or revocation, cannot be banked against future points, and does not reduce a Driver Responsibility Assessment.

22. A driver runs a red light and is convicted. How many points are added to their record?

Answer: D — 3

Running a red light is a 3-point violation, the same as disobeying a STOP or YIELD sign, and more than the 2-point "most other moving violations" category.

23. A driver under 21 receives a Zero Tolerance suspension. What must be paid in total to end it?

A $500 civil penalty
A $100 re-application fee
A $125 civil penalty plus a $100 termination fee
A $50 suspension termination fee only

Answer: C — A $125 civil penalty plus a $100 termination fee

A Zero Tolerance suspension costs a $125 civil penalty plus a $100 termination fee, more than the plain $50 termination fee for an ordinary fixed-period suspension.

24. A school bus stop-arm camera photographs a vehicle passing the bus while its red lights are flashing, for the first such violation on that vehicle. Who is fined, and how much?

The vehicle owner, $250
The driver, $100
The vehicle owner, $750
The driver, $500

Answer: A — The vehicle owner, $250

Stop-arm camera fines are billed to the vehicle owner, not necessarily the driver, and start at $250 for a first violation, rising for later violations within 18 months.

25. A person is caught driving while their license is suspended. How is that treated?

A civil penalty of $750, payable before a new license is accepted
As a civil infraction with a fine up to $250
As a criminal offense, with mandatory fines of $200 to $5,000
As grounds for an indefinite suspension only, with no fine

Answer: C — As a criminal offense, with mandatory fines of $200 to $5,000

Driving while suspended or revoked is a criminal offense carrying mandatory fines of $200 to $5,000, and possibly jail, probation, or vehicle seizure and forfeiture.