california expired driving license

July 4, 2010 12:07 AM

I suddenly found my California driver license had expired 5 months. Should i again take the written and driving test ?
posted by tom123 to Travel & Transportation around California (8 answers total)

Call the DMV; each state has different laws about when a driver must take the written and/or physical driving test depending upon license status. I'm in Illinois, and you don't have to take the written test or the physical driving test until your license has been expired for over a year.
posted by tzikeh at 12:13 AM on July 4, 2010

I'll note that if you do drive with an expired license and have any contact with the police for any reason (including a sobriety checkpoint, busted taillight, etc...), they most likely will tow your car. If you're lucky, they might give you a chance to call someone to pick your car up before the tow truck shows up. If you're unlucky, they'll try to hold your car for 30 days as they would with someone who has a suspended license. Either way, it could well be a fair amount of pain.

My understanding is that you don't need to take any tests you wouldn't ordinarily need to take. In other words, if you could have renewed your license by mail without any test, then you won't need to take any tests now.
posted by zachlipton at 1:04 AM on July 4, 2010

I'm in CA. Mine expired because of a changed mailing address causing me to miss the renewal thingy they do. I had to retake just a written test. It's not any harder than it was when you were 15.

You should make an appointment with the DMV (you can do so from their website), show up, stand in line, and explain your situation to the first person you talk to. They will straighten you out.
posted by cj_ at 1:41 AM on July 4, 2010

Here. Select Office Appointment.
posted by cj_ at 1:43 AM on July 4, 2010

DMV says you can renew by mail in CA up to a year after your license expires, if you also meet the other criteria, such as not renewing by mail three times in a row (NO to all the questions in the top section of this form). Doing it in person may be faster, though.
posted by anaelith at 6:20 AM on July 4, 2010

You may want to have a friend drive you in if you do renew in person. Otherwise it's conceivable that they'd ask you how you got in, then be angry that you drove on the expired license. I mean, it sounds kind of ridiculous, but this is the government, and the DMV at that.
posted by Slinga at 7:54 AM on July 4, 2010

As they said, you just need to take the written test.

It's not hard, and you can take it over as many times as you need to. If you don't make an appointment you can study up on the driver's handbook while you're waiting in line. (Last time I tried to make an appointment at the CA DMV the soonest was 3 months away.)

(And don't worry about the 'friend driving you' issue. Unless you live somewhere without cabs, buses, bicycles and sidewalks. They only care if you're taking the driving test.)
posted by Ookseer at 10:52 AM on July 4, 2010

You may want to have a friend drive you in if you do renew in person. Otherwise it's conceivable that they'd ask you how you got in, then be angry that you drove on the expired license. I mean, it sounds kind of ridiculous, but this is the government, and the DMV at that.

Yeah, no. I don't know about your DMV, but they typically have hundreds of people in there at any given time, often with lines out the door. These underpaid + overworked government employees couldn't care less how you got there. You could have dead bodies in the trunk even, and they wouldn't blink, as long as you got your business done without being a pain.
posted by cj_ at 4:52 PM on July 4, 2010