Reducing Points on a New Jersey License

When a ticket turns into points

Points are assessed after a conviction, using the MVC's points table. Out-of-state moving violations are counted at 2 points here, per N.J.S.A. 39:5D-4, regardless of what the other state assigns.

Some convictions add no points yet still matter. A red light camera ticket carries 0 points on the schedule, and unsafe driving adds points only from a third offense inside five years.

What common tickets are worth

Point values below are taken from the MVC's schedule, current as of October 2026.

• Speeding: 2 points for 1 to 14 over, 4 for 15 to 29 over, 5 for 30 or more over
• Holding a phone or other electronic device while you drive: 3 points
• Racing, reckless driving: 5 points each; careless driving: 2 points
• Tailgating, or improperly passing a school bus: 5 points each
• Ignoring a stop sign, yield sign or traffic signal: 2 points
• Improper turn, improper U-turn, or turning at a light: 3 points
• Overtaking where passing is prohibited: 4 points
• Leaving a crash scene: 8 points if someone was injured, 2 points if not

If you reach 12 points

Hit 12 points on your current record and a suspension is coming, announced first by a notice of scheduled suspension. That letter spells out how long the suspension lasts, when it starts and how to request a hearing. Respond inside its deadline.

If those 12 to 14 points took more than two years to pile up, the MVC may let you choose the Driver Improvement Program over a 30 day suspension. You pay the MVC $75 and the provider its own fee, and up to 3 points come off. Another violation within a year still ends in suspension.

Surcharges run on their own track

The points surcharge kicks in at 6 points within the three years leading back from your latest posted violation: $150, plus $25 for each point past six, charged annually for three years, with the window moving forward over time. Some convictions carry flat surcharges whatever the points.

Reducing points does not reduce surcharges; the MVC says so outright. Surcharges are also apart from court fines and from your insurance premium, and moving away from New Jersey does not end them.

A worked example: two 4 point speeding tickets within three years put you at 8 points, two over the line. That means a $150 surcharge plus $50 for the two points above six.

All the ways to bring the total down

Four routes exist. Drive a year with no violations or suspensions: 3 points off. Choose to take defensive driving: 2 off, usable every 5 years. Get offered the Driver Improvement Program when the MVC proposes action: up to 3 off, usable every two years. Be ordered into the Probationary Driver Program as a new driver: up to 3 off, one time only.

You can combine them, but each keeps its own schedule. Keep in mind the MVC's warning that an insurer might ignore reductions when pricing your policy.

If you are a new driver

During the probationary period, two or more moving violations worth four points or more in total bring a Fee Due notice. It orders a 4 hour classroom course, the Probationary Driver Program, which costs $75 to the MVC plus the provider's charge.

A defensive driving course cannot replace it. Miss the class, or get a violation in the next twelve months, and the license is suspended, which hurts most when you have only just been licensed.

Pulling your own record

Your abstract covers five years back from the request and shows violations, suspensions and points. Ordering online takes an MVC user ID, your license and a card; the price, $15, matches what an MVC agency charges.

The mail option means sending Form DO-21, a photocopy of your license and payment by check or money order (payable to NJMVC) to the Abstract Unit in Trenton, then waiting a few weeks. After any course, check the abstract to confirm the 2 point credit landed.