Thousands of California drivers must retake a written exam after Department of Motor Vehicles officials say they found test results showed “anomalies.”
A DMV spokesperson said officials “identified anomalies in the results of certain knowledge tests,” prompting them to send letters to about 11,000 drivers requiring them to retake the test within 30 days or risk losing their licenses.
“Ensuring the integrity of our testing process is essential,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement to USA TODAY Co. “Knowledge tests play a critical role in confirming that drivers understand the rules of the road before they are licensed to drive in California.”
When will drivers have to retake the DMV written tests?
The DMV confirmed to CBS Sacramento that drivers who received the letters took the exam between July 2025 and April 2026.
“The letter states that the irregularities detected indicate ‘non-compliance with the driver testing criteria required by the California Vehicle Code’ and that, as a result, the license was issued in error,” according to reporting from The Los Angeles Times.
Drivers who received the letters must make an appointment and bring them to retake the tests, CBS Sacramento reported, adding that no walk-ins will be allowed.
Drivers who received letters spanned the state, from Santa Monica to Sacramento, according to posts on Reddit.
Sacramento resident David Specht, 36, told The Los Angeles Times he was among the thousands of drivers who received a letter. Specht told the newspaper he took the test after relocating from Chicago in January but then received the letter from the DMV last month.
Initially, Specht thought the DMV suspected he had cheated because he had finished the test so quickly, he told The Los Angeles Times.
“Then I thought more and more about it, and I googled some of the language from the letter, and I stumbled upon a number of Reddit posts, and social media posts in general, where there were quite a few people questioning it, saying, ‘I did not cheat, I don’t know why I got this,’” Specht said, The Times reported.
While some Reddit users were irked by having to retake the tests, others offered positive remarks about the process.
“San Mateo DMV was nice about it and got me in and out quickly without needing to wait in line,” one user wrote.
What is the DMV written exam?
The California DMV written test is a multiple-choice exam, estimated to last 20-30 minutes, required to obtain a driver’s license or learner’s permit.
It is meant to “show that you understand the rules of the road and are comfortable driving the vehicle that the license will allow you to drive.”
All questions are based on California’s Driver Handbook.
You are allowed three attempts to pass the exam within one application period.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: DMV test ‘anomalies’ force thousands of California drivers to retake exam
Reporting by Daniella Segura, USA TODAY NETWORK / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Daniella Segura, USA TODAY NETWORK | USA TODAY Network
