Tennessee Points: What They Cost You and What Helps

Where points come from

The Department assigns points, not the judge. Courts report moving violation convictions, police crash reports show who contributed to a crash, and the Department then posts the number listed in its published schedule, which rests on rule chapter 1340-01-04. Traffic school outcomes are not convictions and post nothing.

Parking tickets and fix-it equipment tickets are not moving violations. Convictions in other states can be reported to Tennessee and land on your record, and leaving a ticket from a trip unpaid can cost you your Tennessee license, so look at your record after any out of state stop.

Before your next ticket: what common violations are worth

These figures are for a regular passenger vehicle under the Department's current schedule. Many of the same offenses score higher in a commercial vehicle, and speeding in a construction zone runs higher too, starting at 2 points for the slowest band and reaching 8 at 36 mph or more over.

To put it in perspective: an adult with a 16 over ticket (4 points) and a careless driving ticket (4 points) in the same year sits at 8, which is advisory letter territory. Add a reckless driving conviction (6) and the total of 14 crosses the 12 point line.

• Speeding: 1 point at 1 to 5 over, 3 at 6 to 15, 4 at 16 to 25, 5 at 26 to 35, 6 at 36 to 45, and 8 at 46 or more
• Speed left off the ticket: 3 points
• Texting or hand held device: 3 points for adults; any phone use under 18: 6
• Not yielding, passing improperly or going the wrong way: 4 points apiece
• Careless driving 4, reckless driving 6, reckless endangerment with a vehicle 8
• Not moving over or slowing for emergency vehicles: 6 points
• Passing a stopped bus carrying schoolchildren, church members or youth, or ignoring a railroad crossing: 8 points
• Driving while suspended or revoked: 8 points; license not on you: 2
• Helping cause a crash: 3 with property damage, 4 with injury, 8 with a death

If you cross the line: letters, hearings and suspensions

For drivers 18 and over, 6 to 11 points inside a year can bring an advisory letter, and you get no more than one per five years. Reach 12 or more in any 12 month span and the Department mails a notice of proposed suspension and sets an administrative hearing. So can three avoidable crashes in a year, even below 12 points.

Skip the hearing, or never ask for one, and the suspension is six months, or a year if you had a Driver Improvement suspension within the prior five years. At the hearing most people are offered the 8 hour defensive driving class instead of the suspension or to shorten it. First timers with 12 to 20 points can give up the hearing and enroll directly; above 20, that shortcut is not available.

How long points keep counting

Convictions remain part of your history, but under the Driver Improvement rules a conviction is ignored if more than two years separate the offense from the Department's receipt of the report. Each time something new posts, the system looks back 24 months for any 12 month stretch where you reached 12 points.

In everyday terms, after about two years an old ticket no longer counts toward suspension, though it may still appear on the 3 or 10 year history an insurer or employer orders. Ask your insurer how far back it looks.

The two classes, side by side

The 4 hour point removal class is for speeding only. Complete it inside 90 days of the conviction, let the school report it inside 30, and as many as 5 points are subtracted from that one conviction while the conviction itself stays. Once in any four years.

The 8 hour defensive driving class belongs to Driver Improvement. It does not erase points, but finishing inside the 90 days after the suspension letter can stand in for the suspension or shorten it, once every five years. Live stream is approved. If the Department has no certificate by day 75, it sends a warning, then a six month suspension follows. Ask for more time in writing no later than 10 days before the window shuts.

Teen drivers

Teens under 6 points get a warning letter with a copy to a parent. From 6 to 9 points, a proposed suspension notice arrives, a parent or guardian must come to the hearing, the license may be suspended for 3 to 6 months, and a defensive driving class is due inside 90 days. At 10 or more the suspension is six months.

If neither the teen nor a parent shows up, the suspension is a fixed six months. A second batch of 6 or more points within a year of the first brings six or 12 months. To reinstate, show proof of liability insurance, the completed class and the reinstatement fees.

Checking your record and driving while suspended

The Motor Vehicle Record covers 3 or 10 years. Online it is $5 and asks for your license number, your Social Security number and the final five digits of the card's DD number. You can also buy one at a center, or mail off for a certified copy (MVR Request, Box 945, Nashville 37202) and allow about two weeks.

A points suspension may still allow a restricted license for the commute and other approved trips. Apply through Driver Improvement, using either the hearing officer's form or the one you can download; once approved, get an SR-22 on file and bring the paperwork to a center.