New York Car / Permit practice
New York Car / Permit: Traffic Laws practice test
Speed limits, turning and signaling rules, headlight and seat-belt requirements, and the everyday laws every driver must follow.
Content reviewed against official driver handbooks · August 12, 2026
10 questions · pass with 8 correct. You get instant feedback and an explanation after every answer.
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10 sample Traffic Laws questions with the correct answer, a short explanation, and the official handbook reference. Read through them, then take the quiz above.
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1. Unless a different limit is posted, what is the speed limit on streets in New York City?
Correct answer: 25 mph
New York City's default speed limit is 25 mph unless signs post a different limit. The lower limit helps reduce the number and severity of crashes on busy city streets.
2. Under New York law, using a hand-held cell phone or texting while driving is:
Correct answer: Prohibited; adult drivers may use hands-free devices only
New York prohibits holding a phone to talk and prohibits texting while driving. Adult drivers may use hands-free equipment, but the safest choice is to put the phone away until you park.
3. In a highway work zone, a flagger holds up a sign telling you to stop, even though the traffic light down the road is green. What must you do?
Correct answer: Obey the flagger and stop
In a work zone you must obey a flagger's directions, and those directions take priority over traffic signals and posted signs. Flaggers control traffic to protect workers, so follow their signals exactly.
4. At a steady red light in New York, a left turn is permitted only in which situation?
Correct answer: When you are turning from a one-way street onto another one-way street, after stopping and yielding
New York allows a left on red only where a one-way street feeds into another one-way street. You must first halt completely and let people on foot and approaching vehicles go by. A posted sign, signal or marking banning the turn overrides this, and no turn is ever allowed against a red arrow.
5. A school bus stops with its red lights flashing on the other side of a divided highway. What must you do?
Correct answer: Stop, because New York requires you to stop from both directions
In New York you must stop for a school bus with flashing red lights no matter which direction you are traveling — even on divided or multilane highways. Stay stopped until the red lights stop flashing.
6. On a two-way road, New York bars you from passing on the left when you are within 100 feet of what?
Correct answer: A railroad crossing
The passing rules set a 100-foot no-passing buffer around a rail crossing on a two-way road. A similar limit applies as you near a bridge, tunnel or viaduct where something blocks your view.
7. May a driver ever turn around to travel the opposite way on a limited-access highway in New York?
Correct answer: Never — turning around on that kind of highway is always illegal
Turning around on a limited-access expressway is prohibited at all times, even where a paved crossover joins the two roadways. Those gaps exist for maintenance crews and police. If you miss your exit, stay on the highway and leave at the next one.
Source: New York State Driver's Manual — Intersections and Turns
8. Outside New York City, what must you do before turning right at a steady red light where no sign prohibits it?
Correct answer: Come to a complete stop, yield, then turn when it is safe
In most of New York State you may turn right on a red light after making a full stop and yielding to pedestrians and traffic — unless a sign prohibits it. New York City is the exception, where right on red is banned unless a sign allows it.
9. If no speed limit is posted on a New York highway, what is the maximum you may legally drive?
Correct answer: 55 mph
Unless a sign shows another limit, the statewide maximum speed limit in New York is 55 mph. Always slow down further when road, weather, or traffic conditions call for it.
10. As you enter a marked highway work zone, the posted speed limit is lower than usual. You should:
Correct answer: Obey the reduced work-zone speed limit and watch for workers and equipment
Work-zone speed limits are set lower for safety and are strictly enforced in New York. Slow to the posted limit, stay alert for workers, narrowed lanes, and sudden stops, and be ready for equipment entering the road.
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