Learning About Points on Your License

Traffic tickets are as irritating as getting bug bites on a camping trip. The initial sting isn’t the worst part. Like a traffic ticket, getting the initial ticket is not as bad as dealing with the fall out of having to go to court and fight it or deal with a suspended license. Just like having to buy some cortisone cream to help heal the pestilent bites, hiring an attorney can help resolve your traffic issues. At Randall, Page & Bruch, P.C., our team is here to help when you need a Virginia traffic defense attorney by your side. We have experience helping individuals with traffic tickets throughout the Courtland, Suffolk, Emporia, and Lawrenceville areas, and we will get to work on your case immediately.

How Points Work on Your Driver’s License

In Virginia, there are safe driving points and demerit points. Safe driving points are accrued over time. For every year without a traffic violation, you are assigned one point of up to five points. These points show that you have been a safe driver. However, the DMV only cares about your demerit points. Demerit points are the points the government assigns to traffic violations. 

For example, for 5 years, you are traffic violation-free. Now you have 5+ safe driving points. Surely that means if you get a 3-point demerit traffic violation, you are still safe because of the additional safe driving points. Not the case.

Drivers aren’t safe from the consequences of traffic violations if the violations are repeated up to 12 points in one year or 18 points in two years. Those violations can lead to suspension or revoking of your license. It doesn’t matter how many years you were safe driving because the DMV only cares about how many demerit points are being held against your license.

What are Common Demerit-point Traffic Violations?

Traffic violations are split into three categories: 3-point violations, 4-point violations, and 6-point violations. Here are some common violations but not all violations under each tier of violations:

• The most common 3-points violations are speeding between 1-9 mph over the speed limit, failure to obey a traffic sign, failure to dim lights, and operating without a driver’s license.
• The mid-tier of 4-point violations is like unsafe passing, failure to obey railroad crossing signals, failure to stop at the scene of a crash, following too closely, etc.
• The weightiest tier of 6-point violations are offenses such as passing a school bus, passing an emergency vehicle, driving too fast for conditions, refusing to take a breath or blood test, racing a vehicle, or speeding over 20 mph over the speed limit or over 80 mph.

How We Can Help

Having an experienced traffic court attorney on your side drastically improves your chances of decreasing the penalty of your driving and potentially eradicating your demerit license. Remember, 12-demerit points in one year can lead to your license being revoked. Don’t get irritated with your traffic violations. Hire experienced attorneys to help you keep your license and continue to stay safe on the road. You can contact us for a free consultation of your case by clicking here or by calling 757-742-6115.