North Dakota Points: How They Add Up and How to Lose Them

First, know your number: speeding points

North Dakota has two speeding tables, one for roads posted 65 mph or less and one for faster roads. On both, the first few miles per hour over cost you a fine but no points.

Example: 18 over on a two lane highway posted 55 is 3 points. The same 18 over on an interstate posted above 65 is 5.

• Posted 65 mph or less: 0 points to 10 over; 1 point at 11 to 15; 3 at 16 to 20; 5 at 21 to 25; 9 at 26 to 35; 12 at 36 to 45; 15 at 46 and up
• Posted above 65 mph: 0 points to 5 over; 1 point at 6 to 10; 3 at 11 to 15; 5 at 16 to 20; 7 at 21 to 25; 10 at 26 to 30; 12 at 31 to 35; 15 at 36 and up

Then the rest of the schedule

Most everyday moving violations are 2 points: illegal passing, failing to yield, ignoring a traffic signal, driving on the wrong side of the road, disobeying police directions and breaking the conditions of an instruction permit. One point goes on for a child restraint violation or for not displaying plates.

Riskier conduct climbs the scale. Exhibition driving, or not stopping at a railroad crossing: 3. Breaking the terms of a restricted license: 4. Careless driving, going around a school bus, or failing to report a crash: 6. Reckless driving: 8. Racing: 10. Leaving the scene: 14 if only property was damaged, 18 if someone was injured or killed. Fleeing an officer: 24.

Driving uninsured is listed three times, at 6, 12 or 14 points, with the value turning on the facts of the case. Unlicensed driving adds no points, but the statute attaches a $150 fee to it.

When the total gets too high

Reach 12 and NDDOT writes to say it plans to suspend you, with an offer of a hearing. The length is a week at 12, then another week for every point beyond 11, so 13 points is 14 days and 15 points is 28.

After you serve a point suspension, the law sets your total at 11. One more point and you are suspended again, which makes the first months back the riskiest.

For drivers under 18 the line is 6 points and the result is cancellation, not suspension. After cancellation the teen is handled as if never licensed and goes back through the permit, the wait and driver education.

Bringing the total down

Time works on its own: each three month stretch with no new moving violation points takes one off, measured from your latest entry. The clock does not help while you are serving a suspension or cancellation that points caused.

A course is faster. Finishing an approved driver training course subtracts 3, no more than once a year and no more than 9 over any three years, and only from points already on the record when you finished. Someone already at 12, or a minor at 6, gets the credit only once the suspension or cancellation has been served.

For a new small ticket there is a third route. Electing a course in lieu of points stops a ticket of 5 points or less from ever counting. The catch is that the election costs you the 3 point course credit, so you pick one or the other.

How to see your own points

The quick option is the limited record from NDDOT's online request system, printable on the spot. It omits your total and anything older than three years, and it cannot be reprinted, so save a copy before you close the window.

The complete record comes by mail. Send the Request for Driver Abstract, Form SFN 51386, with $3 to NDDOT at 608 E. Boulevard Ave., Bismarck, ND 58505-0750. A phone call to the Driver License Division will also get you your current point status.

Points and your insurance

NDDOT points and your premium are separate systems. Your insurer reads your driving history its own way, so a point course may do nothing for your bill.

The class the law ties to lower premiums is a different one: a motor vehicle accident prevention course with State Highway Patrol approval. It earns at least two years of reduced rates, three if you are 55 or over. Ask a sponsor which approval its course carries, the Highway Patrol's, NDDOT's or both.