When You Have Your Permit

Practice frequently. The DMV recommends that you practice at least 30 hours for your road test. Practice at least 10 hours in medium to high volume traffic. You can practice with a driver who has enough driving experience, but the DMV recommends that you take professional driving lessons. Most new drivers fail their road test because they were not prepared.
Attend a mandatory pre-licensing course or complete a high school or college driver education course. Most commercial driving schools licensed by the DMV offer the DMV-approved pre-licensing course. Look in the telephone directory under "Driving Instruction."
When you complete the course, you receive a pre-licensing course certificate (MV-278). You must provide the certificate number when you schedule your road test. You must also show the certificate to the road test examiner on the day of your road test.
Only students who complete a high school or college driver education course approved by the NYS Education Department (NYSED) receive an MV-285 student certificate. (This certificate was called a "blue card" in the past.) You do not receive an MV-285 if you complete the pre-licensing course. The DMV does not provide a list of approved driver education courses. Contact your school or the NYSED.
Schedule a Road Test. Make an appointment for a road test by phone or schedule a road test on-line. The test date is normally from three to ten weeks after the date that you make the appointment. The time between an appointment and the road test is normally longer in the summer.
Before you take your road test, read the DMV brochure, Road Test Tips.
After your road test, the examiner will inform you of the results. If you did not pass, you can schedule another road test. If you do not pass the second road test, you must pay a $10 fee to take a maximum of two more road tests.
You can renew a learner permit if:
You passed the written test in the last two years, and
Your permit expired in the last 30 days.
Because learner permits are normally issued for 5 years, most new drivers never renew their learner permits.