Demerit Point System and Newport News Traffic Tickets

The Uniform Demerit Point System in Virginia is a system that is used for assessing the demerit points on driving records and, as a Newport News traffic lawyer can explain, anyone who has a Virginia driver’s license will automatically be included in the system. The DMV or the Department of Motor Vehicles has assigned a particular number of points for each possible offense.

This list can be found through the DMV online. After someone receives a conviction, then the demerit points are assigned to their record and will remain for 2 years. The actual conviction remains on record for a length of time that depends on what the offense was.

The consequences of accumulating points too quickly are that your driver’s license could be suspended. Too many points mean 18 points within a year or 24 points within 2 years. The whole premise behind the Uniform Demerit Point system is to punish poor drivers and to incentivize good driving. Drivers receive one positive point for every year of good driving behavior which is a year with no new convictions.

As far as insurance rates, the DMV will notify the driver’s insurance company every time they are made aware of any new conviction. This could cause someone’s insurance premium to go up, usually for three years. Each particular state chooses its own demerit point system to use. Virginia’s doesn’t include points for infractions for any other jurisdiction nor will the Virginia points system apply to any out of state drivers.

Challenging Points Assessed To Your License

No, the points cannot be challenged because the points come from convictions. If you don’t want to have points on your driving record the best thing for you to do after you are charged, is to voluntarily take a driver improvement class. This is a possibility once every two years and it results in 5 positive points on your driving record.

Also every year of good driving behavior, which means no new convictions, will give you one more positive point. Other than those options, the only other possibility for having points removed is to object to the actual charges that caused the points and then can have the charges reheard and dismissed. This may be done through an appeal within 10 days of a conviction, or by having the case reopened within 60 days of a conviction.

A Newport Traffic Lawyer Attorney Can Help

Someone facing serious charges in Newport News should absolutely, before they do anything else, speak with an attorney. An attorney is going to help them with all of the other things that they should do such as learning exactly what the implications of the convictions are.

Someone needs to be absolutely certain of what all the immediate and long term penalties are going to be from the conviction and they need to know exactly what they are facing. It is easy for someone to confuse a speeding ticket for a reckless driving ticket or a reckless driving ticket for a speeding ticket and making incorrect assumptions in either direction can be very dire. An attorney can help you navigate the confusing legal borders and can help you get the best results possible for your case so that your future opportunities are not affected.