North Carolina Driver Improvement Clinics and Your Points

Right after the ticket: what a course can and cannot do

No statewide rule lets a course dismiss a North Carolina ticket. NCDMV's form of relief is the driver improvement clinic, which lowers license points after you have been convicted. The conviction stays, and your insurance points do not move.

In the past, certain DA offices have offered to knock a minor charge down for drivers who complete a class. That is purely local, nothing in state law guarantees it, and we were unable to verify which counties do it today. Phone the prosecutor's office in the county where you were stopped before you buy any course.

Before the court date: pay, fight or ask for relief

An annual list from the state's chief district court judges sets which offenses may be paid without a hearing, and officers generally write on the ticket whether it is one and how much is owed. Settle it through the online court payment portal, by mail, or in person with the clerk and you have accepted a conviction; NCDMV points and insurance points come next.

Want to challenge it? Enter a not guilty plea and be in court on the date shown. Infractions and most traffic misdemeanors go before a district court judge, and deals on reduced charges are made with whichever assistant DA is covering traffic court that session.

Picture a 2 point ticket. Pay it online and both license and insurance points land. Show up, and the ADA might offer a reduced charge or the judge might grant a prayer for judgment continued. The court date is where options exist.

If you miss court or cannot pay

Skipping court or not paying has its own consequence. Once NCDMV hears you failed to appear or pay, it mails a notice with a revocation date, and the revocation lasts until the court reports the case resolved.

Money tight? The courts have a form for that, AOC-CR-415 (Motion for Relief). File it with the clerk where you were ticketed and request a hearing; a judge may lower what you owe, cancel it, or let you pay over time.

When points build: how the clinic works

The clinic opens up at 7 points if you are on the regular 12 point scale, or 4 if you are on the 8 point scale that applies after a reinstatement. Being eligible is not enough by itself: you also sit down with an NCDMV hearings officer before credit is given, and you only get one clinic per five years.

Finishing satisfactorily removes three points. The handbook prices the clinic at $83.50, and there is a separate hearing fee, so confirm both on NCDMV's license suspension page or at (919) 715-7000.

The current version of the hearing request form (HF-001, revised February 27, 2026) charges $40 for the eligibility conference; the clinic is a separate $83.50 on the fee schedule. Requests that do not require a hearing can go by fax to 919-715-1947 or by phone to 919-715-7000. If you cannot afford the hearing fee, an affidavit of indigence can get it waived.

How many points a conviction adds

NCDMV adds points after convictions for certain violations. These are the handbook values for a regular, non-commercial driver; violations in a commercial vehicle score higher.

• 5 points: aggressive driving, or going around a school bus that has stopped
• 4 points: reckless driving, tailgating, illegal passing, wrong side of the road
• 3 points: running a red light or stop sign, not yielding, or a speeding conviction where you were doing more than 55 mph
• 3 points: no liability insurance, speeding over a posted school zone limit
• 2 points: child not properly restrained
• 2 points: any other moving violation
• 0 points: parking, improper registration, expired inspection

If points or speed lead to suspension

Twelve points within three years can bring a suspension. After reinstatement, the line drops to 8 points within three years. Penalties climb each time: two months off the road the first time, half a year the second, a full year from the third on. On the bright side, getting reinstated resets your license points to zero.

Speed alone can cost the license before you reach 12. Going over 55 mph while also exceeding the posted limit by more than 15 costs at least 30 days. Two speeding convictions above 55 mph inside a single year cost 60.

Insurance: a separate scoreboard

Your premium is governed by a different tally, the Safe Driver Incentive Plan, which the Department of Insurance supervises. Finishing the clinic adjusts what NCDMV has on file, but your insurer's points stay put.

Some examples from the plan: a speeding ticket of no more than 10 over, where the limit is under 55, is worth 1 insurance point and lifts the premium 40 percent. Passing a stopped school bus, or reckless driving, is worth 4 and lifts it 90 percent. Surcharges usually run three policy years; for some convictions of 4 points or more dated July 1, 2025 or later, the surcharge runs five.

Asking for a prayer for judgment continued

Prayer for judgment continued is something a judge grants or refuses case by case. Its insurance effect, per the Department of Insurance: for PJCs entered July 1, 2025 or later, a moving violation PJC is surcharge-free unless the policy owner, the principal driver, or any licensed member of the household received another moving violation PJC in the previous five years.

Older PJCs, from before July 1, 2025, use a three year lookback instead. Since the test looks at everyone in the home, check with your insurance agent first if a spouse or teen has already had one.

For parents: teen suspensions beyond points

Teens can lose a provisional license long before points matter. Count moving violations within 12 months: the second brings 30 days, the third 90, the fourth six months.

A moving, seat belt or phone conviction also stalls the move from Level 1 to 2 or Level 2 to 3, since each step needs six clean months. A clinic later does not undo that delay.

Commercial drivers and out-of-state tickets

Convictions from other states are reported to NCDMV and can lead to suspension as if they happened here. In a commercial vehicle, values rise: speeding over 55 is 4 points rather than 3, and passing a stopped school bus is 8.

Commercial license holders face a federal ban, 49 CFR 384.226, on any state arrangement that hides, defers or diverts a moving violation away from their record, regardless of what they were driving. If you have a CDL, get legal advice before relying on a PJC or local reduction.