Defensive Driving in Connecticut: What a Course Can and Cannot Do

Right after the ticket: why no class will dismiss it

Connecticut does not have a ticket dismissal course, from the courts or the DMV. Instead, the Judicial Branch runs online ticket review: enter a not guilty plea through its website, a prosecutor studies what you sent, and the outcome is a nolle with no fines, a transfer to court, or an offer such as a smaller fine or a different charge.

Turn down an offer, ignore it, or miss the payment, and the ticket heads to court. You can see whether your ticket qualifies by typing the full ticket number into the Centralized Infractions Bureau site.

If your license is from another state, you are treated like a resident and the case stays where the ticket was issued. The Judicial Branch warns that ignoring it leads your home state to suspend you. Commercial drivers: a payment is treated like a conviction, so ask DMV Driver Services (860-263-5720) whether disqualification is in play before you send money.

Right after the ticket: paying, and what it does to points

The Judicial Branch explains that a motor vehicle ticket settled with the Centralized Infractions Bureau leads to no points from the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, with a single carve-out: a ticket for misusing a phone or other handheld device carries one point or more. The ticket is still reported to the DMV, which can still impose administrative sanctions, suspension included.

You must pay in full by the Answer Date on the ticket, and there are no payment plans. Ignore a motor vehicle ticket and the DMV suspends your license; getting it reopened costs a $60 fee to the court on top of the original amount.

To pay on the Judicial Branch's CIB website, have a credit card and the ticket number ready. To pay by post, write the ticket number on a check or money order payable to "Clerk of Superior Court" and mail it to: Centralized Infractions Bureau, P.O. Box 5044, Hartford, CT 06102-5044. A single ticket cannot be split, paying one charge while contesting another.

Misplaced the ticket? Phone the CIB at 860-263-2750, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, or send your date of birth and full name by email to [email protected]. Fine amounts follow a judges' schedule revised every October 1, so the figure a friend paid last year may not match yours.

Over the next two years: how points add up

Under the DMV's regulations a point lives on your record for two years, counted from its assessment date. Reach a total of 6 and the DMV writes to warn you.

Go above 10 points with a conviction and the DMV suspends you for 30 days. Do it again within five years of when that suspension started, and the suspension runs until your total falls to 10 or below. There is no course in Connecticut that takes points away.

When the DMV letter arrives: Operator Retraining

The violation counts come from the list in C.G.S. 14-111g(a): two of them for anyone 24 or under, three for anyone 25 or over. Some single convictions also send you: topping 75 mph in a highway work zone, topping 65 mph in one while driving a commercial vehicle, and racing or wagering under C.G.S. 14-224(c).

According to the Driver's Manual, the class teaches how a vehicle should be operated, how attitude feeds aggressive driving and why safe habits matter. If you have to go, the DMV tells you by letter.

• Drivers 24 and younger: 2 qualifying violations
• Drivers 25 and older: 3 qualifying violations
• Speeding over 75 mph in a work zone
• Racing or wagering under 14-224(c)

When the DMV letter arrives: enrolling and the deadline

You sign up directly with a DMV-approved vendor; the retraining page lists four, some serving drivers out of state. A vendor may charge up to $85. The DMV accepts only electronic confirmation from the vendor, so if you take the class somewhere else, make sure the vendor sends it to Connecticut.

Aim to finish at least two weeks ahead of the suspension date. Complete it before that date and the suspension is removed. Complete it on or after that date and you are off the road until reinstated, with $175 to pay for it.

Picture a 22 year old with a stop sign conviction in spring and a speeding conviction in the fall. That is two qualifying violations, so a retraining letter is likely. If it names a suspension date of December 15, the target is to have the class done by December 1.

After retraining: the 36 month watch

Finishing the class opens a 36 month window. Pick up a moving or suspension violation inside it and you lose the license: 30 days the first time, then 60, then 90 for every further one, each with a $175 restoration fee. Every reinstatement restarts the 36 month clock.

Voluntary courses: the discount for drivers 60 and older

C.G.S. 38a-683 requires insurers to cut premiums by 5 percent or more, for 24 months or more, for a principal operator aged 60 or over who shows proof of finishing an accident prevention course the DMV has approved. Your driving history cannot be used to deny that minimum.

Approved providers appear on the DMV's page about insurance discounts, and a number of them run the course online. If you are younger than 60, the law gives you no discount entitlement, though some insurers give one anyway. The course neither removes points nor dismisses tickets.

Motorcyclists get their own benefit. C.G.S. 38a-685 provides a 10 percent liability insurance discount for completing a state-approved rider education course, and the DMV lists 1-800-872-RIDE as the rider course hotline.

Work zone tickets and the free module

The same free online Work Zone Safety Course new permit applicants take is also required of anyone convicted of a work zone violation, (the statutes are C.G.S. 14-212d and 14-283b). Fast enough in a work zone and you may also land in Operator Retraining.