The 5-Hour Pre-Licensing course is a DMV-approved, standardized course that provides the knowledge first-time drivers need to be safe on the road. All first-time drivers are required to either complete a 5-Hour Pre-Licensing course or a Driver Education course (consisting of 24 hours of classroom instruction and 24 hours of in-car instruction) in order to take their road test and get their driver license.

Yes, Safe2Drive's Pre-Licensing course is approved by the New York DMV!

First-time drivers who have their learner permit must take either a 5-Hour Pre-Licensing course or a Driver Education course (consisting of 24 hours of classroom instruction and 24 hours of in-car instruction) in order to take their road test and get their driver license.

You must be age 18 or older and have a valid photo learner permit to take the online course. No one who is an applicant for a class DJ or MJ license is permitted to register for the online course. A class DJ license is a Junior Operator license for teens ages 16-17. A class MJ license is a Junior Motorcycle license for teens ages 16-17.

An interim learner permit has no photo. A photo learner permit does. The New York DMV issues a temporary learner permit (i.e. "interim learner permit") immediately after you pass the written examination at a DMV office. You will get a photo learner permit in the mail about two weeks later.

Before you can start your online 5-hour course, the NY DMV requires you to prove you have a valid New York learner permit that includes your photograph. If you have a temporary learner permit with no photo, you must wait until you have a photo permit before you start your training.

The 5-Hour Pre-Licensing course consists of 3 easy steps.

Step One: Register.

Registration is fast and easy. Create an account by choosing a username and password and inputting your email address. Next, you'll read basic information regarding the course, fill out your contact information, make payment, and set up your voice print. That's it! You're ready to get started.

Step Two: Complete the Coursework.

Our course is only 5 hours long. It consists of short lessons full of text, videos, and games. A 4-question multiple-choice quiz appears at the end of every lesson. You must answer at least 3 of the 4 questions correctly to pass the quiz and proceed to the next lesson. You have 3 attempts to pass each lesson quiz. Per the New York DMV's requirements, if you don't pass the lesson quiz on your third attempt, you must restart the course. When you complete the last lesson quiz, you're done! There is no final exam.

Please Note: The New York DMV requires that you complete your coursework within 30 days of registering. If you do not complete the course within that time frame, you must start the course over from the beginning. We do not charge you to start the course over.

Step Three: We Submit Your Completion to the NY DMV.

When you complete the course, we will electronically submit your completion to the New York DMV. The DMV will then record your completion on your driving record. Please note that it can take up to 24 or 48 hours for the completion to record on your driving record once it is submitted. Once your completion records on your driving record, you can schedule your road test.

You must answer at least 3 of the 4 multiple-choice questions correctly on the end-of-lesson quiz to pass the quiz and proceed to the next lesson. Per the State of New York's requirements, you have 1 minute to answer each quiz question. If you don't answer the quiz question within the required time, it will be marked as incorrect. You have 3 attempts to pass each lesson quiz. Per the New York DMV's requirements, if you don't pass the lesson quiz on your third attempt, you must restart the course.

No, there is no final exam. Once you pass the last lesson quiz and submit your course evaluation, you're done!

The New York DMV requires that you complete your coursework within 30 days of registering. If you do not complete the course within that time frame, you must start the course over from the beginning. We do not charge you to start the course over.

The Pre-Licensing course takes 5 hours to complete, the minimum time required by law. You don't have to complete it all in one sitting. You can log in and out as much as you like. Every time you log in, we'll take you right back to where you last left off.

We are required by the state of New York to verify your identity while you are taking the course. We validate your identity every time you log into the course and periodically throughout the course using personal validation questions and voice biometrics.

Personal Validation Question at Login

Upon login, we will ask you to answer a personal validation question to verify your identity. Personal validation questions are based on answers you provide during registration or based on contact information. An example of a personal validation question is "What is your favorite color?" Another example of a personal validation question is "What is your birthdate?" You have 3 opportunities to successfully answer each personal validation question. If you fail to answer the question correctly on your third attempt, you will be prompted to contact our Customer Care team. We will then verify your identity over the phone. At that point, the New York DMV requires that you restart the course.

Validation Checkpoints Throughout Course with Voice Biometric Verification and Personal Validation Question

There are 7 validation checkpoints throughout the course. At each validation checkpoint, you must pass one voice biometric verification and answer one personal validation question correctly. You have 3 attempts to pass each voice biometric verification and personal validation question. If you do not pass on your third attempt, you will be prompted to contact Customer Service. Our Customer Service Representative will verify your identity, and then the New York DMV requires that you restart the course.

Voice biometrics verify that the person who registered for the course is the person who is completing the course. You will create a voice print during registration. At each validation checkpoint in the course, you will be prompted to call a number and then repeat a phrase of numbers. The system will check to see that your voice print matches with the voice print created during registration. The voice print must match to pass the validation checkpoint and proceed with the course.

You can read more about voice verification here.

We will issue you a refund (minus a $10 fee for voice verification) if you are dissatisfied in any way within 30 days of your registration. You must submit your request within 30 days of registering and before completing the course. In the event that we are unable to provide the course or any part of the course, we will issue a full refund.

The price of the course is $49.00.

You may pay by one of the following methods:

1. Credit card online
2. Credit card by phone
3. Check by mail

Step One: Get Your Learner Permit.

The first step to getting your driver license is to get your learner permit. You must apply in person at the DMV for your permit.

Please refer to the New York DMV's website for the most current information regarding how to get your learner permit.

Step Two: Complete a 5-Hour Pre-Licensing Course or a Driver Education Course

You must complete either a Pre-Licensing course or a Driver Education course before you can schedule your road test regardless of your age. The Pre-Licensing course is 5 hours and can be taken online if you are age 18 or older. Safe2Drive's course satisfies this requirement. Please note, your Pre-Licensing course completion is valid for one year from the date it is issued. Your completion must be valid on the date that you make your Road Test appointment. Please visit the New York DMV's website for the most up-to-date information.

An alternative to the Pre-Licensing course is a Driver Education course, which is 24 hours of classroom instruction and 24 hours of in-car training (which includes 18 hours of observation and 6 hours of behind-the-wheel driving in a teacher-supervised vehicle).

Please Note: Drivers under age 18 have additional requirements they must follow to qualify for their driver license. In addition to taking the Pre-Licensing or Driver Education course, they must also complete a minimum of 50 hours of supervised driving practice with a licensed driver age 21 or older, with at least 15 hours at night and at least 10 hours in moderate to heavy traffic.

Step Three: Pass Your Road Test

Once you complete either the 5-Hour Pre-Licensing course or the Driver Education course, you may schedule your road test.

There is no minimum wait time for drivers age 18 and older between when you get your learner permit and when you can take the road test. Drivers under age 18 must have their permit for at least 6 months before taking the road test.

You may schedule your road test online using the NY DMV's Road Test Scheduling System. To schedule your road test, you will need the following items:

• You New York State DMV ID number
• Your Pre-Licensing Course Certificate (MV-278) or Driver Education Certificate (MV-285). If you took an online Pre-Licensing course like Safe2Drive's course, your completion will automatically be recorded on your driving record and you will not need to bring a physical certificate.
• The 5-digit zip code of the area where you want to take your road test. You do not need to take your test in the area of the state where you live.

Please be aware that you may have to wait several weeks to take your road test. Usually, the earliest date is within three to five weeks, but at peak testing periods during summer and school breaks, it may be up to 10 weeks away. There are no waiting lists. Tests are almost always given on weekdays and are only rarely offered on a Saturday.

On the day of your road test, try to arrive up to 30 minutes early to the test location. Be sure to bring the following with you:

• Your photo learner permit
• Glasses or contacts, if your permit indicates you need them to drive
• Your original Pre-licensing Course Certificate (MV-278) or Student Certificate of Completion (MV-285). If you took an online Pre-Licensing course like Safe2Dive's course, your completion will automatically be recorded on your driving record and you will not need to bring a physical certificate.
• A driver age 21 or older who has a license valid to operate the test vehicle
• A vehicle to drive during the test that has a valid registration and inspection, operates properly and is in clean condition

The fee for up to 2 road tests was included in your driver license permit application fee. If you do not pass your first 2 road tests, you must pay another fee for up to 2 more tests. There is no refund if you do not take both tests.

If you fail your road test, don't worry. You can schedule another road test. You will need to wait at least one day to take the test again.

When you pass your road test, you will be given an interim license that allows you to drive without the restrictions you had with a learner permit. Your real license will arrive in the mail in about 2 weeks.

Personal Information

We only collect personal information you voluntarily provide. Please do not submit this information if you do not want it collected. We use your information to better understand your needs and improve our service. We do not give your information to any third-party unless required by a government agency to give you credit for taking our course. We may use the information to contact you.

Your Access and Control Over Information

You may opt out of any future contacts from us at any time. You can do the following at any time by contacting us via the telephone number or email address on our website:

• See what data we have about you, if any.
• Change/correct any data we have about you.
• Express any concern about our use of your data.

Security

We take precautions to protect your information. We protect your information both online and offline when you submit it to us over our website.

Sensitive information (e.g., credit card data) is encrypted and transmitted to us in a secure way. You can verify this by looking for "https:" at the beginning of the address for the web page.

We also protect your information offline. Only employees who need the information to perform their job (e.g., completion processing) are granted access to personally identifiable information. The computers in which we store personal information are kept in a secure environment.

You can read about the Terms and Conditions of the course here.