New York DMV test: 10 points to review

Use these ten checks to review New York passenger-car permit rules. For each one, name the condition that controls your answer: location, signal, direction, available space or road conditions.

Ten topics to explain

1. Overall score: the written test requires at least 14 correct out of 20. Road-sign answers count toward that total.
2. Signs: at least 2 of the 4 road-sign questions correct, as well as the overall score. Review the two passing conditions.
3. NYC red-light turns: prohibited unless a sign permits them, across all five boroughs.
4. Red arrows: wait until the red arrow goes out and a green light or green arrow appears before moving in that direction. Compare New York red-light situations.
5. School buses: stop at least 20 feet away for a stopped bus with flashing red lights, from either direction, including across a divided highway. See the bus guide.
6. Left turns: yield to oncoming traffic close enough to be a hazard and to pedestrians legally crossing. Keep your wheels straight while waiting to turn.
7. Blocked junctions: when traffic beyond the intersection is backed up, wait until there is room to get completely through, even on green.
8. Roundabouts: entering drivers yield to circulating traffic and pedestrians.
9. Following interval: the manual teaches two seconds in normal conditions, increased to at least three or four in bad weather or behind large trucks. Time intervals are not fixed stopping distances.
10. Traffic officers: obey an officer’s directions over a sign, signal or pavement marking. If an officer tells you to stop at a green light, stop.

Review with the official chapters

Start with Chapters 4–11 and the road-sign section of the official manual. Read the relevant rule, answer a practice question, then explain why each other option does not fit its conditions.

For example, a right turn at a circular red outside NYC can be allowed after stopping and yielding. Move that same intersection to Queens without a sign permitting a turn on red, and you must wait. A small change in location changes the rule.

Use NY Driver for practice and a mistake log to record the missed condition. Before practicing in a vehicle, review learner permit restrictions: supervision and regional restrictions are separate from passing the written test.

Official references

Chapter 1: licensing, Chapter 4: signals, Chapter 5: intersections, Chapter 6: passing and buses and Chapter 8: defensive driving.