The liver breaks down alcohol at a fairly steady pace of about one standard drink, such as a 12-ounce beer, per hour. Coffee, a cold shower, or exercise cannot speed this up; only the passing of time lowers your BAC.
Practice on a junior learner permit is allowed from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. as long as the person supervising holds a license and is at least 21. After 9 p.m. and before 5 a.m., only a parent, guardian or driving instructor may supervise, and only where night practice is permitted at all, so this supervisor keeps you to the daytime hours.
A move must be reported to the New York DMV within 10 days, so that renewal reminders and other official mail actually reach you.
Drivers under 21 are held to a zero-tolerance rule: a reading of 0.02% or more brings penalties such as license suspension, far below the 0.08% adult limit. Even a single drink can bring a young driver close to that level, so the only safe plan is not to drink before driving.
One standard drink equals either 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits; each holds about the same amount of alcohol. Choosing beer or wine over liquor does not make you any less impaired.
Besides fines, loss of the license and possible jail time, a DUI conviction commonly comes with an order to complete an alcohol education program such as an Alcohol Highway Safety School. A mere warning, an unrelated riding course or a token fine does not reflect how drunk driving is punished.
New York drivers have 10 days to submit Form MV-104 to the DMV when damage to the property of any one person exceeds $1,000, or when someone is injured or dies. Even a crash with no injuries can require this report if the damage is great enough.
Alcohol makes it hard to hold a lane, judge speed, and react smoothly, so impaired drivers often weave, drive unusually slowly, and brake or stop without warning. If you notice these signs, keep well back and report the driver to police when it is safe.
Drivers who are 21 or older break the law once their BAC hits 0.08%. Anyone under 21 is held to a zero-tolerance limit far below that, so 0.08% is not their cutoff, and 0.06% is not the standard adult limit.
Before the test begins, the examiner checks that your vehicle is safe and properly equipped. An unsafe vehicle, missing seat belts, or anything that keeps the examiner from reaching the brake pedal is enough to cancel the test, so check your car ahead of time.
Under implied consent, choosing to drive in New York counts as advance permission for a breath test or other chemical test after an arrest on suspicion of impaired driving. A refusal carries separate penalties of its own, starting with a suspension that can end in revocation of the license.
When you damage an unattended vehicle and cannot locate its owner, New York expects two things: a note left on that vehicle with your contact details, and a report to the police. Doing only one of them is not enough.
A new New York resident has a 30-day window to move a vehicle from out-of-state registration to New York registration. Continuing to use the previous state's plates after that window closes breaks the law.
A first drunk driving conviction in New York takes away the license for no less than 6 months, and later convictions bring much longer revocations.
New York treats every driver as having agreed in advance to a chemical test after an arrest for impaired driving. A refusal brings a license suspension at your first court appearance and, once a DMV hearing confirms it, a revocation, whatever happens to the criminal charge; refusing also does not prevent an arrest or a conviction based on other evidence.
In upstate New York, a junior permit holder may practice from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. with any licensed supervisor aged 21 or older. From 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., the supervisor must be a parent, guardian or driving instructor. On Long Island and in New York City the rules are stricter, and junior permit holders may not drive there from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
The required minimum for bodily injury liability is $25,000 when a single person is hurt in a crash you cause. You may buy higher limits, but a $15,000 policy would fall short of the minimum.
Every question in this set has its own page with the correct answer and an explanation.
