Point Reduction in Iowa: How the DOT Really Keeps Score

First, how Iowa counts without points

Everyday tickets earn no points in Iowa. The DOT's power to suspend comes from Iowa Code 321.210 and is aimed at the habitual violator, and the DOT's rule at 761 IAC 615.6 sets that bar at three or more moving violation convictions for offenses within a 12 month window. The suspension starts at 90 days for three and reaches a full year at seven or more.

A handful of tickets never enter the tally. An equipment ticket does not count if you fix the problem inside 72 hours and send proof. Neither do belt or car seat tickets, or parking tickets. And each year, your first two tickets for 10 or less over on roads posted between 35 and 55 are ignored.

Example: since last November you have a stop sign ticket, a 12 over on a 45 mph road, and a parking ticket. That is two countable convictions, not three. One more moving violation before November would make you a habitual violator.

If it was 25 or more over the limit

Under rule 761 IAC 615.10, being convicted of driving 25 or more above the limit is labeled a serious violation. The faster you were going, the longer the minimum suspension, though mitigating circumstances can reduce it.

• 25 mph over: 60 days.
• 26 to 29 over: adds 5 days per mph, so 65 to 80 days.
• 30 mph over: 90 days.
• 35 mph over: 140 days.
• 40 mph over: 190 days.
• 49 mph over and above: a full year.

The one place points do exist: habitual offenders

Iowa's habitual offender law reviews six years of serious crimes, and here, finally, points apply. Rule 761 IAC 615.4 scores each qualifying conviction, and the total decides a bar lasting two to six years.

You can also earn the label by volume: six reportable offenses in a two year span. Excluded from that count are equipment, parking, registration and belt tickets, tickets for an expired license, failures to appear, and speeding by less than 15. The penalty on this route is a one year bar.

• Driving after a suspension, revocation or denial: 2 points.
• Driving while your license is revoked or denied for OWI: 3 points.
• OWI, or driving during a bar: 4 points.
• Hit-and-run, eluding police, a felony involving a vehicle, or seriously injuring someone with a vehicle: 5 points.
• Killing someone with a vehicle (vehicular manslaughter): 6 points.
• Bar length by total: 6 to 7 points means 2 years; 8 to 9 means 3; 10 to 12 means 4; 13 to 15 means 5; 16 or more means 6.

Can any class take something off your record?

No. Per the DOT, completing its improvement program leaves every violation and crash right where it was, and a record holds those items, along with suspensions, for no less than five years. All the program can do is take the place of a looming suspension, once every two years at most, after which you serve 12 months of probation.

An online defensive driving course you sign up for on your own leaves the DOT's count untouched. All it can give you is better habits and, if your insurer chooses, a discount.

If your driver is a teen

Teens get less slack. On a permit or intermediate license, any moving violation, at-fault crash or rule broken leads to remedial action from the DOT and delays the next license, by half a year on a permit and a full year on an intermediate.

A second violation on an intermediate license produces a suspension letter that describes a four hour class, Alive at 25. It is optional; your teen may choose to sit out the suspension instead, and the letter spells out how the class fits in.

Instructor tip: sit down with your teen when that first ticket arrives, not the second. In Iowa the second one costs real time off the road.