Connecticut license renewal for older drivers

Preparing for the renewal test

If you need to take a written or signs test to renew, it covers the same handbook as new drivers' tests. Our Connecticut practice tests and road signs test are free to use, and the read-aloud button can help if small print is hard to read.

Connecticut practice testRoad signs test

Rules that may have changed since you first got your license

Some of the rules in today's Connecticut handbook are newer than many drivers' first test. Worth a look before renewal:

• Phones: Hand-held phones and mobile electronic devices banned for all drivers, including when temporarily stopped in traffic or at a signal; hands-free accessories allowed for drivers 18+. Drivers 16-17 and learner's permit holders may not use any phone or device, even hands-free. Emergency calls allowed for any age. Fines doubled in work zones.
• Move over: For any vehicle pulled over on a highway or road: slow down below the posted limit and move over one lane when it is safe. For approaching emergency vehicles with siren/lights: pull to the right edge and stop until they pass (drive through an intersection first). Statute (C.G.S. 14-283b) is narrower than the manual: on highways with 2+ lanes in one direction, for a stationary or very slow emergency vehicle, maintenance vehicle or wrecker with flashing lights, slow to a reasonable speed below the limit and move over one lane if in the adjacent lane, unless unsafe; on two-lane undivided roads, slow below the limit; for any other stationary vehicle on the shoulder or breakdown lane of a multi-lane highway, move over one lane if in the adjacent lane, unless unsafe.
• School buses: Stop for a school bus with flashing red lights whether it is on your side, the opposite side, or at an intersection you are approaching; not required when the bus is on the other side of a median or physical barrier. Statute: stop at least 10 feet from the front or rear of the bus (C.G.S. 14-279); fine $450 for a first offense, $500-$1,000 and/or up to 30 days in jail for later offenses (14-279(b)). Ice cream trucks with flashing lights and extended arms: stop at least 10 feet away, then pass at up to 5 mph.
• Alcohol: the limit for adult drivers is 0.08%.

Vision standard

At least 20/40, with or without glasses or contact lenses, for all license classes. You also need 140 degrees of peripheral vision with both eyes. If you are blind in one eye, the other eye must be at least 20/40 with a field of vision of 100 degrees or more.

About the vision test