Connecticut Points: Values, Suspensions and Waiting Them Out

When points land: how Connecticut assigns them

The DMV adds points once a conviction for a scheduled violation is on your record, and the 24 months run from that conviction date. Being found guilty is a conviction, and so, for many tickets, is paying. The regulation softens that, though: pay most infractions to the Centralized Infractions Bureau and no points are added.

Two kinds of tickets escape that softening. Paying a ticket for misuse of a hand-held phone or similar device under C.G.S. 14-296aa still costs one point or more. And offenses that cannot be paid by mail, reckless driving for instance, bring points when you are convicted in court.

When points land: what common tickets are worth

The schedule ranks violations by danger. Lower values go to lane and signal mistakes; higher values go to conduct that puts pedestrians, school children or emergency crews at risk.

• 1 point: speeding or unreasonable speed, turning improperly or without signaling, driving the wrong way down a one-way street, using a hand-held phone
• 2 points: running a red light, a stop sign or a yield sign; no seat belt or child seat; work zone safety violations; ignoring an officer
• 3 points: tailgating, overtaking on the right, passing where it is marked no passing, failing to yield to pedestrians or emergency vehicles
• 4 points: racing or betting on a race, harassing another driver by following too closely, going past a school bus that has stopped
• 5 points: negligent homicide with a motor vehicle, or a school bus driven at excessive speed

As the total climbs: warnings and suspensions

A conviction that brings you to 6 points or higher triggers a warning letter from the DMV. A conviction that pushes you past 10 points inside 24 months triggers a 30 day suspension.

Do it a second time within five years, counted from the day that first suspension began, and the next suspension has no end date. You stay off the road until points expire and your total is 10 or lower.

A worked example: a driver with a 3 point following-too-closely conviction and a 2 point red light conviction sits at 5. One more 2 point stop sign conviction brings a warning letter at 7. A 4 point school bus conviction on top would make 11, and a 30 day suspension.

Insurance runs on a separate track. Your insurer sees the same history but applies its own rules, so one ticket can raise your rate when you are nowhere near the DMV's limit. Ask how many years back your insurer looks; it can be longer than two.

If you were hoping for a class

Connecticut has no point reduction class, and taking a defensive driving course earns no point credit. The accident prevention course for drivers aged 60 and up lowers insurance premiums and does nothing for points. Operator Retraining stops a pending suspension, yet every violation and point stays put.

Your leverage is before conviction, not after. Use the Online Ticket Review Program to ask a prosecutor to drop the ticket or reduce the charge, and keep driving cleanly so your old points can expire.

Two counters, not one

Connecticut keeps two tallies on every driver, and you can trip one while staying well under the other. One tally is your point total. The other, used for Operator Retraining, is a count of moving or suspension violations from the list in C.G.S. 14-111g, ignoring point values: drivers up to age 24 are sent to the class at two, everyone older at three.

Sixteen and seventeen year olds face a third tally of their own: set suspension periods for breaking the curfew, passenger or phone rules or for serious speeding, which apply whatever their point count.

Checking your own record

Anyone who holds or once held a Connecticut license can buy their own driving history online for $20; it remains available in CT.gov for 30 days after purchase. By mail or at an office, the price is the same $20, payable by check or money order to DMV. Asking for another person's record requires Form J-23.

Look at your record when you apply for a job, whenever you are convicted of something, and as any 24 month window nears its end. If an entry is wrong, ring DMV Driver Services on 860-263-5720 right away; do not wait for a suspension letter.