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Alaska driving lesson · Your Driving Record

Suspension vs. revocation

A 3-minute lesson from the Alaska course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.

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Read time
3 minutes
Course unit
Your Driving Record
Checkpoint questions
6
Source pages
17

Suspension and revocation both take away your right to drive, but they differ in how you get it back. Either way, the loss continues until you formally reinstate, and you must carry proof of future financial responsibility afterward.

Suspension

Your privilege to drive is temporarily taken away. At the end, after meeting reinstatement requirements, you apply for a duplicate license at a field office.

Handbook p. 17 ↗

Revocation

Your privilege is taken away and your license is revoked. At the end, once reinstatement requirements are met, a new license may be obtained.

Handbook p. 17 ↗

Privileges must be suspended for:

  • Operating or owning an uninsured vehicle involved in a crash
  • Repeated violations of motor vehicle law (accumulating points)
  • Driving in violation of license restrictions
Handbook p. 17 ↗

Privileges must be revoked after a court conviction for:

  • DUI, or refusal to take a chemical test
  • Driving while license is cancelled, suspended, or revoked
  • Reckless driving
  • Failure to stop and render aid at a personal injury crash you're involved in
  • Perjury: giving the department untrue information about motor vehicles
  • Unlawful flight by motor vehicle to avoid arrest
  • A felony with a vehicle causing injury or death (manslaughter, negligent homicide, assault)
Handbook p. 17 ↗

DMV must revoke administratively for:

  • Refusing a chemical test after a DUI arrest
  • Breath test of .08 or higher after a DUI arrest (.04 or higher in a commercial vehicle)
  • Habitual violations of motor vehicle laws (2-point suspensions in a 24-month period)
  • A minor under 21 driving after consuming alcohol, or refusing chemical testing
  • A minor under 21 using a false driver's license to obtain alcohol
Handbook p. 17 ↗

Know the rule

DMV can take independent action against your driving privileges regardless of the outcome of any related court case.

Handbook p. 17 ↗

Know the rule

A suspended or revoked license must be turned in to the department.

Handbook p. 17 ↗

Know the rule

A suspension or revocation continues past its ending date until you properly reinstate and file proof of financial responsibility for the future.

Handbook p. 17 ↗

SR22

An insurance filing that proves financial responsibility for the future. The insurer must notify DMV if your liability coverage lapses or is cancelled.

Handbook p. 17 ↗

Know the rule

Any time your privilege is suspended, revoked, or limited, you must carry financial responsibility for the future after the action ends, and pay a reinstatement fee.

Handbook p. 17 ↗

Put it into practice

Your 90-day suspension ended last week, but you never reinstated or filed an SR22. You are still suspended. Driving now is driving while suspended, a 10-point offense.

Check your understanding

Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.

Which of these results in mandatory revocation of driving privileges after a court conviction?
  1. Reckless driving
  2. A single speeding ticket
  3. Failure to signal a turn
  4. Parking in a no-parking zone

Answer: Reckless driving

Reckless driving convictions require mandatory revocation.

Handbook p. 17 ↗
Which situation requires the Division of Motor Vehicles to administratively revoke a license?
  1. A single at-fault fender bender
  2. A breath test result of .08 or higher after a DUI arrest
  3. Failure to pay a parking fine
  4. Letting your registration lapse

Answer: A breath test result of .08 or higher after a DUI arrest

A .08+ breath test result after a DUI arrest triggers administrative revocation.

Handbook p. 17 ↗
What must you file with the DMV to reinstate driving privileges after a suspension or revocation?
  1. A copy of your high school diploma
  2. A letter from your employer
  3. Proof of financial responsibility for the future (SR-22)
  4. A vehicle inspection report

Answer: Proof of financial responsibility for the future (SR-22)

An SR-22 filing shows proof of financial responsibility going forward.

Handbook p. 17 ↗
What is the difference between a license suspension and a revocation in Alaska?
  1. A suspension is permanent and a revocation is temporary
  2. They are the same and only differ by name
  3. A revocation only applies to commercial drivers
  4. Suspension is temporary; revocation cancels the license

Answer: Suspension is temporary; revocation cancels the license

A suspension temporarily takes away the privilege (you get a duplicate at the end); a revocation takes the license away, and a new license must be obtained.

Handbook p. 17 ↗
Driving privileges must be revoked for which of the following?
  1. Perjury on a motor vehicle document
  2. Failing to update your address within 30 days
  3. Letting your instruction permit expire
  4. Driving with a cracked windshield

Answer: Perjury on a motor vehicle document

Perjury relating to motor vehicle matters is a mandatory revocation offense.

Handbook p. 17 ↗
What must a driver do with a suspended or revoked license?
  1. Keep it as identification only
  2. Turn it in to the department
  3. Mail it to the arresting officer
  4. Hold onto it until the next renewal cycle

Answer: Turn it in to the department

A suspended or revoked license must be turned in to the department.

Handbook p. 17 ↗
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