South Carolina Points, Suspensions and the 4 Point Course

First: what your tickets are worth

The point values come from Section 56-1-720, and tickets from other states or military courts post just as if you got them here. Warnings carry nothing (Section 56-1-730). Two surprises: an 11 to 24 mph speeding ticket costs four points, and a repeat hands-free phone ticket within three years now costs two.

• Speeding, 10 mph over or less: 2
• Speeding, over 10 but under 25 mph over: 4
• Speeding, 25 mph or more over: 6
• Six each: reckless driving, passing a stopped school bus, and leaving the scene after property damage
• Running a light or sign, failure to yield, tailgating, illegal turn or pass: 4
• Wrong lane, unsafe lane change, improper backing, improper lights: 2
• Endangering a highway worker: 2, or 4 if a worker is injured
• A second or later distracted driving offense in 3 years: 2

Over time: how points fade

Each ticket loses half its weight on the first anniversary of the violation, so June's four point speeding ticket counts as two by the next June. Section 56-1-750 then removes it from the tally once it is more than 24 months older than your newest violation. Tickets age independently of each other.

Your driving history keeps the conviction even after its points have expired, which is why your insurance can still be priced on a ticket that no longer pushes you toward a suspension.

For example, two four point tickets 14 months apart: on the day of the second, the first is already at half, so your active total is six, not eight.

If you reach 12 points

Section 56-1-740 sets the suspension by total: three months for 12 to 15 points, four for 16 or 17, five for 18 or 19, and six for 20 or more. Under Section 56-1-760, violations used for one suspension are ignored when counting toward the next.

Two lifelines exist during a points suspension. If you have a job or attend college more than a mile from home, a route restricted license ($100) lets you drive set routes at set times. And within ten days of receiving the notice, you can file a written request for a contested case hearing with the Office of Motor Vehicle Hearings, as Section 56-1-820 provides.

For parents: the six point teen rule

Six points on a teen's beginner's permit, Conditional license or Special Restricted license means six months without driving for excessive points, and the course cannot reverse it. Worse, the same points stay in play for the ordinary point system, so a run of bad luck can keep a teen off the road well past those six months.

Before you enroll: rules for the 4 point course

The reduction is set out in Section 56-1-770. It covers the National Safety Council's Defensive Driving Course plus equivalents taught by accredited instructors, and SCDMV signs off on equivalent courses that driver training schools offer. When you scan SCDMV's school list, pick a school marked as certified for the four point reduction. Motorcycle riders have another route: an eight hour motorcycle safety course at a technical college earns the same four points.

SCDMV's conditions leave little room: South Carolina location, eight classroom hours, taken after the violation date. The single online exception is the NSC virtual classroom. Points come off once in any three year period, and a course finished after a suspension starts will not end it.

• After the violation date
• Eight hours, in a classroom or the NSC virtual classroom
• In South Carolina
• Once every three years
• Done before any suspension start date

When points are not the real issue

Some offenses skip the point system altogether. DUI and similar offenses come with mandatory suspensions, and Section 56-1-1020 labels you a habitual offender after three major offenses within three years (DUI, reckless driving or driving under suspension, for example), or ten convictions for four-point-or-higher offenses in three years. A defensive driving course helps with neither.