Colorado Tickets and Points: What a Driving Course Can Do

First, the honest answer about classes

Nothing at the state level trades a class for a dropped ticket. The FAQ published by Colorado Springs Municipal Court is blunt about it: Colorado simply has no remedial class program that ends in dismissal.

That court adds that judges sometimes impose a class as part of a sentence once guilt is found, and that a traffic class can be part of negotiating a point reduction with the City Attorney. After a conviction, though, the court cannot keep points off your record, because the DMV is the one that assesses them.

If it is a state ticket: pay within 20 days

On a State Penalty Assessment, the DMV rewards speed: pay on the web, or mail payment carrying a postmark no later than day 20 after you got the ticket, and the record shows fewer points. You still owe the full fine.

How big is the break? Statute 42-2-127(5.5) answers it: subtract two from anything worth three or more, and one from a two pointer. A four point speeding ticket, paid on time, posts as two. Local governments can opt to copy this for their own penalty assessments, so automatic reductions exist in some cities but not everywhere.

Wait past 40 days and the matter has moved to court, out of the DMV's hands. Drivers younger than 18 also send form DR 2334, the minor affidavit for a penalty assessment, with a parent's or guardian's notarized signature.

If it is a court ticket: plea deals and local reductions

Plea agreements resolve a large share of Colorado tickets. Colorado Springs Municipal Court, for instance, says the City Prosecutor may agree to lower the points on the original charge, though the court then cannot change the fine.

Colorado Springs goes a step further for qualifying tickets paid ahead of the court date, cutting four points to two, three to one, and two to zero. Excluded: commercial license holders (the city cites statute 42-4-1719), any five point ticket, and offenses requiring an appearance, such as careless driving, driving uninsured, or speeding in a school or work zone. Courts elsewhere set their own policies.

The new option: HB24-1250's points waiver

Signed into law June 4, 2024 and effective that August 7, HB24-1250 lets a driver convicted of a traffic infraction, or of a misdemeanor traffic offense, complete a driving improvement class and have that conviction's suspension points waived. Only classes run by commercial driving schools and approved by the Department of Revenue count.

The statute leaves the mechanics (the number of points, how frequently, the claim process, approval of courses, fees) to rules written by the Department of Revenue. So call the DMV before signing up: is the program live, and is this school's class approved? Commercial license holders should also ask whether the waiver is open to them at all.

As points add up: suspension thresholds

Suspension limits shrink with age, per the Department of Revenue's hearings office. From 21 up, it takes a dozen points inside one year or eighteen inside two. From 18 until 21, nine in a year, twelve over two years, or fourteen accumulated during those three years. At 17 or younger, six in a year or seven ever, counting until the 18th birthday.

What counts is when the offense happened, not when the conviction arrived. Drivers who can prove every ticket came while working as professional drivers get more room: sixteen in one year, twenty four over two, or twenty eight over four.

If you reach a suspension: hearings and probationary licenses

When points do lead to suspension, the length is set by a Department of Revenue hearing officer: half a year as the starting point, twelve months at most. Evidence in your favor, such as better habits, is considered; a class you chose to take may help your case, though the agency's page promises nothing.

Whether you get a restricted license for school or work is the officer's choice. One moving violation ends it, and losing a probationary license that way leaves you carrying SR22 coverage for three years once reinstated.

If a court orders a class as part of your sentence or plea, use the provider the court names or approves, file proof by the court's deadline, and ask what happens if you miss it.

What will not help

Paying some website for a defensive driving certificate does nothing for a Colorado ticket or its points. The exceptions are a course approved under HB24-1250 and used through the official rules, and a class the judge or prosecutor has signed off on. Alcohol and drug offenses go through a separate DMV administrative process that no defensive driving class resolves.

• There is no statewide class for dismissal
• CDL holders get no Colorado Springs automatic reduction
• Paying a ticket means pleading guilty
• Each insurer decides its own course discount

Watch out: repeat speeders from August 2026

A law signed on May 27, 2026, SB26-035, applies to offenses from August 12, 2026 on. It targets speeding by 20 mph or more, or any speed above 75. Do it twice within a year and the second ticket carries two bonus points; three times within two years, four bonus points; five times within five years, eight. Hitting 100 mph or more adds four points beyond the normal value.

Those repeat offenders are summoned to court rather than handed a ticket they can pay, so the early payment discount is gone. The same bill puts illegal passing in a no passing zone at six points.

Special cases: phones and out of state tickets

From January 1, 2025, a phone in your hand while driving is against Colorado law. CDOT's figures: $75 and two points the first time, with steeper penalties for repeats inside 24 months. Your first such ticket goes away if you show a receipt for a hands free mount or headset, a single use break that is as close as Colorado gets to automatic dismissal.

Skipping out on a ticket from another state can cost you here. Through the nonresident violator compact, the other state tells Colorado, and your Colorado license can be suspended until you settle with that court, then upload its compliance letter and pay reinstatement on myDMV. Points for convictions elsewhere are assigned by the Colorado DMV; ask what yours will be.