Driver reexamination — California Permit Test

Driver reexamination on the California permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

The Vehicle Code allows DMV to investigate and reexamine every driver’s ability to drive safely, and the basis is a physical or mental condition or a poor driver’s record, not a driver’s age.

Age by itself is not a reason, and the handbook says so in as many words.

A physical or mental condition or poor driver’s record can be the basis for a reexamination, not a driver’s age.

California Driver’s Handbook, p.80

Drivers with a physical or mental condition can be referred to DMV by a physician, law enforcement or a family member submitting a Request for Driver Reexamination form.

Three different people can start it, and any one of them may be the first to notice.

Drivers with a physical or mental condition can be referred to DMV by a physician, law enforcement, or family member by submitting a completed Request for Driver Reexamination (DS 699) form.

California Driver’s Handbook, p.80

Cognitive disorders such as dementia, seizure disorder, brain tumor, Parkinson’s disease, stroke or vertigo present a significant challenge to safe driving, and people with these conditions may lose their ability to drive safely.

Each of them can take away the judgment or the awareness that driving runs on.

Cognitive disorders, such as dementia, seizure disorder, brain tumor,

California Driver’s Handbook, p.80

After a reexamination DMV may request medical information, conduct an in-person or telephone reexamination, require a knowledge, vision or driving test, issue a limited term driver’s license, immediately suspend or revoke a privilege that is an immediate threat to public safety, or take no action at all.

The outcome is not decided in advance, and one of the outcomes is nothing.

DMV may do the following:

California Driver’s Handbook, p.80

If you receive a Notice of Priority Reexamination of Driver with a check mark in the top box, you have five working days to contact DMV or your driving privilege is automatically suspended.

Five working days is a week, and the suspension happens whether you read the form or not.

You have five working days to contact DMV to initiate the process or your driving privilege will be automatically suspended.

California Driver’s Handbook, p.81

On the test

What can be the basis for a reexamination?

A condition or a poor record. Age by itself is not a reason, and the handbook says so in as many words. California Driver’s Handbook, p.80: “A physical or mental condition or poor driver’s record can be the basis for a reexamination, not a driver’s age.”

How this works

Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.

You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.

Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.

What it costs

  • One payment, once — not a subscription. Nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel, for an exam you sit one time.
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  • Paying opens the rest of the cards, unlimited full-length practice tests, and retests built from exactly the questions you got wrong.
  • Every level up to Prepared — 3 tests passed in a row.
  • Do the work, fail the real exam, and we refund you.

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Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against California Driver’s Handbook, published by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-21.