Traffic runs through four courses of the law enforcement basic recruit curriculum: CJK 0400 Traffic Incidents, 0401 Traffic Stops, 0402 Traffic Crash Investigations and 0403 DUI Traffic Stops. Most of the law behind them is chapter 316 of the Florida Statutes, and some of it has changed recently, so study from the current text.
Where the traffic questions catch people
- Old numbers. Section 316.1939 was amended in 2025: a first refusal of a lawful breath or urine test is now a crime, not only a license suspension. Study material written before then is wrong on this point.
- Thresholds. A driver must immediately report a crash with injury, death or apparent damage of at least $2,000 (s. 316.065(1), F.S.). Which officer report is needed depends on a separate list in s. 316.066(1).
- Who must do what. Many questions hinge on whether a duty falls on the officer, the driver or the department. Read the subject of each option.
The legal side of stops and arrests has its own ten questions, and the full course list is on the law enforcement exam topics page.
Ten practice questions
1. A driver lawfully arrested for DUI has never refused a test and never had his license suspended. After being properly informed, he refuses a breath test. Besides a 1-year suspension of his driving privilege, the refusal is:
- A. An administrative matter only, with no criminal charge
- B. A noncriminal traffic infraction with a fixed fine
- C. A misdemeanor of the second degree
- D. A misdemeanor of the first degree, the same as any refusal
Answer: C. Under s. 316.1939(1), F.S., a first refusal after the required warnings is a second-degree misdemeanor; a second or later refusal is a first-degree misdemeanor. Section 316.1932(1) requires the driver to be told both the suspension (1 year, or 18 months after a prior suspension) and the criminal penalty.
2. After giving a breath sample at the jail, a DUI arrestee says he wants his own blood test as well. Under Florida law, the officer:
- A. Must not interfere and must give him timely telephone access
- B. Must transport him to a hospital and have the agency pay for it
- C. May refuse, since one approved test has already been given
- D. Must hold the breath result back until the second test comes in
Answer: A. Section 316.1932(1), F.S., lets the person arrange an independent test at his own expense. The officer may not interfere and must provide timely telephone access, but the burden of arranging the test is on the person, and failing to get one does not keep the officer's test out of evidence.
3. An officer arrests a driver for DUI but decides not to request a breath test. The driver then asks to be tested. Under Florida law:
- A. The officer may decline, because the choice of test is the officer's alone
- B. The driver must arrange and pay for a private test instead
- C. A test can be given only if a judge signs an order first
- D. The officer must have the requested test performed
Answer: D. Under s. 316.1932(1), F.S., when the arresting officer does not request a test, the arrested person may request a breath, urine or blood test, and the officer shall have it performed.
4. A driver whose normal faculties are impaired by alcohol rolls through a stop sign and crumples the fender of another car. Nobody is hurt. Under s. 316.193(3), the offense is:
- A. A felony of the third degree
- B. A misdemeanor of the first degree
- C. A misdemeanor of the second degree
- D. A noncriminal infraction added to the DUI
Answer: B. Section 316.193(3), F.S., makes DUI that causes damage to another's property or person a first-degree misdemeanor. Serious bodily injury makes it a third-degree felony, and a death makes it DUI manslaughter.
5. For a first DUI conviction, which of these must the court order as a condition of probation?
- A. At least 30 days in jail, 48 hours of it consecutive
- B. Revocation of the license for at least 10 years
- C. At least 50 hours of public service or community work
- D. An ignition interlock on every car the driver owns for 2 years
Answer: C. Section 316.193(6), F.S., requires probation of up to 1 year with at least 50 hours of public service or community work for a first conviction, along with a 10-day impoundment or immobilization of a vehicle. The 30-day jail minimum applies to a third conviction within 10 years of a prior one.
6. On a three-lane interstate, a driver approaches a disabled pickup stopped on the right shoulder with its hazard lights flashing. No emergency vehicle is there. Under Florida's Move Over law, the driver must, as soon as it is safe:
- A. Vacate the lane closest to the pickup
- B. Keep his lane and speed, since no emergency vehicle is there
- C. Stop behind the pickup and offer help to the occupants
- D. Slow to 5 mph below the posted limit and stay in his lane
Answer: A. Section 316.126(1), F.S., covers a disabled motor vehicle displaying warning or hazard lights, using flares or signage, or with people visibly present. On a highway with two or more lanes in that direction, the driver vacates the closest lane; if that cannot be done safely, he slows to 20 mph below a posted limit of 25 mph or more.
7. An officer investigates a two-car crash on a city street. No one is hurt or complains of pain, no one is impaired, no commercial vehicle is involved and both drivers stayed. One car cannot be driven and is towed away by a wrecker. Which report is required?
- A. A short-form report, because no one was injured
- B. Only a driver exchange-of-information form
- C. No officer report; each driver files his own within 10 days
- D. A long-form report, filed within 10 days
Answer: D. Section 316.066(1), F.S., requires a Florida Traffic Crash Report, Long Form when a crash leaves a vehicle inoperable to the point that a wrecker must remove it, as well as for injury or complaint of pain, a DUI or leaving-the-scene violation, or a commercial motor vehicle. It is submitted within 10 days after the investigation is completed.
8. A driver backs into a neighbor's fence. He gives the neighbor his name, address and registration number. No officer comes and no law enforcement report is required. Under s. 316.066, the driver must also:
- A. Call the nonemergency line within 24 hours to log the crash
- B. Send the department a written crash report within 10 days
- C. Have his insurer file the report within 30 days
- D. Obtain a short-form report from the nearest police station
Answer: B. Under s. 316.066(1), F.S., the driver of a vehicle in a crash that damages a vehicle or other property, when no law enforcement report is required, must submit a written report to the department on its approved form within 10 days after the crash.
9. During a routine traffic stop, before any arrest, an officer asks the driver, "Have you had anything to drink tonight?" No Miranda warnings have been given. Under Berkemer v. McCarty (1984):
- A. Roadside questions at a routine stop are not custodial interrogation
- B. Warnings are required, because every traffic stop is a seizure
- C. Warnings are never required in a traffic case, even after arrest
- D. The answer is admissible only if the driver is later cited, not arrested
Answer: A. Berkemer held that ordinary roadside questioning during a routine traffic stop is not custodial interrogation, so Miranda warnings are not yet required. Once the driver is arrested or restrained to the degree of a formal arrest, Miranda applies, even for a misdemeanor traffic offense.
10. An officer in an aircraft sees a driver commit a chapter 316 violation and radios a description of the car and the violation to a deputy on the ground. The deputy did not see it. Under s. 901.15, the deputy:
- A. Must let the driver go, because he did not see the violation himself
- B. Needs a warrant before stopping the car
- C. May arrest if the car and violation were properly identified to him
- D. May act only if the aircraft officer is from the same agency
Answer: C. Section 901.15(5), F.S., lets an officer who receives information relayed from a fellow officer on the ground or in the air arrest the driver for a chapter 316 violation, when reasonable and proper identification of the vehicle and the violation has been communicated.
Half of these turn on a number: 1 year or 18 months, 10 days, 50 hours, 20 mph below the limit, $2,000. Write the numbers from chapter 316 on one page and check each against the current statute, not against an older study guide.
Practicing at full length
Our bank has about 737 questions across law enforcement and corrections, each with a written explanation. The full practice exam is 200 questions in 3 hours with an 80% line; the quick mode is 50 questions in 45 minutes. All 200 of ours are scored, while the state exam includes 10 unscored field-test items. How the real exam is scored is explained on the passing score page, and what happens after a failed attempt on the three attempts rule page.