A GUIDE TO SUSPENSION & REVOCATION

OF DRIVING PRIVILEGES IN NEW YORK STATE

New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Page 1

DEFINITIONS

sus.pen.sion n 1: Your license, permit, or privilege to drive is

taken away for a period of time before it is returned. You may be

required to pay a suspension termination fee.

re.vo.ca.tion n: Your license, permit, or privilege to drive is

voided; it no longer exists. To get a new license, or permit, or to

listed in this publication.

com.pli.ance n 1: Turn in your driver license to a court or to

the DMV. You must not drive once a suspension or revocation

is ordered.

• Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated (AGG-DWI), .18%

Blood Alcohol Concentration (.18 BAC) or higher; (AGG DWI

CIV) DWI with a c

hild 15 years old or younger in vehicle:

1-year revocation

• Driving While Intoxicated (DWI), or with .08 % Blood

1-year revocation

• Driving While Ability Impaired by Alcohol (DWAI):

90-day suspension

• DWAI committed within 5 years of any previous alcohol or

drug-related violation:

6-month revocation

• First alcohol or drug-related violation by a driver, except Zero

Tolerance, under age 21:

1-year revocation*

• Second alcohol or drug-related violation by a driver, except

• Homicide, assault or criminal negligence resulting in death

from the operation of a motor vehicle:

6-month revocation

• False statement on an application for a license or registration,

or substitution by another driver for a road test. Conviction in

criminal court:

6-month revocation

Finding by a DMV Administrative Law Judge:

1-year revocation

• Speed contest:

• 3 violations for passing a stopped school bus within 3 years:

6-month revocation

• Leaving the scene of a fatal or personal injury accident:

6-month revocation

ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUG VIOLATIONS

OTHER VIOLATIONS

New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Page 2

If you are under age 21 when arrested for Aggravated DWI,

DWI or DWAI, and later convicted, your license will be

suspended or revoked. You must serve the entire suspension

or revocation time, even if you complete an approved Drinking

for DWI, DWAI, Zero Tolerance, or any other alcohol or drug-

related charge, and refuse to take a chemical test. If the refusal is

for at least one year and you will be assessed a civil penalty of at

least $500.

If you are under age 21 when you refuse to take a test, your

license will be revoked for at least one year. If you are under 21,

at least one year or until you turn 21, whichever is longer.

Zero Tolerance law makes it illegal

for a driver under 21 to have consumed any alcohol. A police

motorboat faces penalties similar to those under “chemical test

refusal” and “zero tolerance.”

If you illegally purchase alcoholic beverages by using an altered

or fraudulent driver license or non-driver ID card as proof of

age, your driver license or privilege of applying for a license will

be suspended.

Under the NYS open container

a driver or passenger in a motor vehicle on a public highway,

street or road, to drink an alcoholic beverage, or to possess an

victim assistance fee, and potential imprisonment up to 15 days.

DMV receives evidence that you were involved in an accident

without being insured.

Note: If you receive a DMV inquiry letter about vehicle liability

insurance, read it carefully and respond as it directs.

If your vehicle has a lapse in insurance coverage, you must turn

you must surrender the plates or you may face civil penalties,

registration suspension and/or license suspension.

Any person, including a non-resident or unlicensed driver, who

has license suspensions for failure to respond to tickets imposed

New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Page 3

bad check for DMV fees, fail to pay a Driver Responsibility

Assessment, or fail to satisfy a court judgment that results from

that led to the suspension.

If you are involved in a fatal crash, your license may be suspend-

ed or revoked following a DMV hearing, even if you were not

While on probation, if you are convicted of speeding, reckless

driving, following too closely, participating in a speed contest,

for 60 days. When you get your license back, you will again be on

of driving while ability impaired (DWAI) by alcohol or drugs

during probation, or revoked for at least six months for driving

while intoxicated (DWI).

In New York State, a “point system” helps identify drivers who

If your driving record accumulates 11 or more points within 18

months, the DMV will suspend or revoke your license or privi-

lege to drive. You will be given the option of attending a hearing

before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) or accepting a period

of suspension, usually of 31 days.

authorized by law, you may have to pay a “Driver Responsibility

Assessment” for certain violations that result in a conviction

these payments.

• Chemical Test Refusal with prior refusal or Alcohol-Related

Violation in previous 5 years: $750 Civil Penalty

RE-APPLICATION FEES AND CIVIL PENALTIES

DRIVER RESPONSIBILITY ASSESSMENTS

DRIVING WHILE YOUR LICENSE IS

SUSPENDED OR REVOKED

New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Page 5

If your license becomes suspended or revoked, you may be

eligible for a conditional or restricted license that allows you to

drive in limited situations, such as to and from work. If you are

eligible for one of these licenses, the DMV will notify you with

A judge can (and starting August 15, 2010 must) order an igni-

tion interlock device as a condition of probation or conditional

system to be installed on each vehicle owned by the motorist

during both the revocation period and any probation or condi-

-

dicates the need for alcohol treatment, the judge may be required

to order completion of the treatment as a condition of probation

the alcohol content of the operator’s breath. As a result, the

or standing.

from convictions for violations committed while driving non-

commercial vehicles such as cars, light trucks, and motorcycles.

For information about penalties that apply to commercial drivers

of heavier trucks, buses, vehicles transporting school children,

CONDITIONAL AND RESTRICTED LICENSES

IGNITION INTERLOCK PROGRAM