Licensing, insurance and the law
After a traffic stop, an officer gives you a Notice of Priority Reexamination of Driver with the top box checked. How long do you have to contact DMV before your driving privilege is suspended automatically?
- Five working days. Correct answer
- 10 days.
- 14 days.
Why
A priority reexamination moves fast. Read the form carefully: with the top box checked, you have five working days to get in touch with DMV and start the process, and if you let them pass, your privilege is suspended with no further step. Ten and 14 days are the deadlines of a different procedure, asking for a DMV hearing after being told of a proposed action: 10 days from being served, or 14 from the date the notice was mailed. A reexamination is based on a physical or mental condition or a poor driving record, not on age.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is Five working days.
The rule behind this one
License, points and insurance in California goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on licensing, insurance and the law
- You are 60 and have completed the Mature Driver Improvement Program. How long is your certificate valid, and how do you renew it?
- Within any 12-month period, what is the lowest point total at which DMV may consider you a negligent driver and suspend your driving privilege?
- You are 17, got your provisional license eight months ago, and want to drive your 16-year-old friend home at 6 p.m. Is that allowed?
- You move to a new home within California. Within how many days must you notify DMV of your new address?