Michigan Driving Points: Values, Triggers and Your Options

First: what common tickets are worth

Speed is scored in four bands: a point for up to 5 over, 2 points once you pass 5 over, 3 once you pass 10 over, and 4 once you pass 15 over. Three points apply to careless driving, to running a signal or stop sign, and to an illegal pass. Most remaining moving violations cost 2, and causing an at-fault crash with a moving violation costs 4.

The 6 point tier covers the gravest conduct: drunk or drugged driving, reckless driving, running from police, leaving a crash scene you were obliged to stop at, and manslaughter or a felony involving a vehicle. Speeding in a work zone is scored separately and higher, at 3 points for 10 over or less, 4 when over by more than 10 and up to 15, and 5 beyond 15.

• Up to 5 over: 1
• Over by 6 to 10: 2
• Over by 11 to 15: 3
• Over by 16 or more: 4
• Work zone, 16 or more over: 5
• Drunk, reckless, fleeing: 6

Special scales: freeways and phones

Freeway speeding is scored more lightly. On a limited access freeway posted at 55 mph or higher, MCL 257.629c replaces the usual scale: up to 5 over posts no points, 6 to 10 over is a point, 11 to 15 over is two, 16 to 25 over is three, and 26 or more is four. Trucks, buses and other vehicles with their own section 627 limits stay on the regular scale. The state's ticket chart uses the same numbers; match the violation code on your ticket to it.

The hands-free law, in effect from June 30, 2023, scores phone use separately. Holding or using a phone at the wheel costs nothing the first time, a point the second time, and 2 points from the third time on. Level 1 and Level 2 teens are additionally covered by Kelsey's Law, a near-total phone ban with an emergency exception.

When the state steps in

At 9 points you may be summoned for an interview about your driving; ignore it and 3 points are added. At 12 or more inside two years, a driver assessment reexamination is ordered. For a points case it is done administratively, from your record, and you are not required to attend.

Points are one trigger among several. A reexamination can also follow a fatal crash, three negligent crashes inside two years, breaking a restriction on your license (Graduated Driver Licensing limits count), or a conviction during new driver probation. The result can be anything from extra restrictions to a suspension or a revocation lasting one to five years.

A worked example

Picture a driver with a 4 point ticket (16 over on an ordinary road) in May 2025, a 3 point stop sign ticket in January 2026 and a 2 point ticket in September 2026. That is 9 points inside two years, and an interview letter may follow. If a 3 point ticket lands before May 2027, the total reaches 12 and a reexamination follows. Wait until after May 2027 and the first ticket drops out of the window, leaving 8.

Over time: how long points count

Each conviction counts toward the thresholds for two years, then drops out of the running total. The conviction itself lingers on your record much longer; the Department of State keeps driving records for 10 years, and some entries stay longer still, or forever.

One incident, one set of points. When a single traffic stop leads to several convictions, only the most heavily weighted one is scored. A few things score nothing at all: forfeited bonds, overweight loads, equipment defects, and an out-of-state civil violation that turned into a conviction only because you never appeared.

Can you remove points?

No. Once posted, points stay until they age out; Michigan offers no course that subtracts them. BDIC is purely preventive, keeping a qualifying ticket's points off in the first place, and you get one successful use.

What you can influence is the ticket. A formal or informal hearing, or admitting with an explanation, might change the result or the fine. It cannot change the number of points the law attaches to a conviction. Beyond that, the only way down is time: drive clean and watch each conviction pass its two year mark.

Your state record versus your insurer

The Department of State cautions that your insurer may cite a different number from your record, since insurance law has its own point scheme. Because BDIC keeps a ticket from insurers altogether, it is frequently worth more than the state points it saves.

If an entry on your record looks wrong, phone the Information Center at 1-888-SOS-MICH. When the mistake came from a court, the court has to send a corrected abstract to the Driver Record Activity Unit in Lansing.