Wyoming Defensive Driving, Tickets and Your License

First: Wyoming has no points

WYDOT put it in writing in 2020. Updating a legislative interim committee on state law, the department said Wyoming does not run on points, and that defensive driving courses and the discounts tied to them make no difference to a Wyoming license.

So the familiar trade, class in exchange for fewer points, does not exist here. Visiting drivers are a different case: if your license is from another state, a Wyoming ticket may still earn points back home under that state's system. Ask your own licensing agency.

What WYDOT counts instead

WYDOT counts moving violations. Three within any 12 months is the most you can carry without action. A fourth means a 90 day suspension, and any further moving violation within 12 months of the last three adds 90 days more.

Teens holding a restricted (RC) license are on a much shorter leash: the first moving violation conviction costs 90 days, the second a full year. If you are suspended, you may be able to get a probationary license for limited driving, provided you have not held one in the past five years.

Some speeding tickets never count. W.S. 31-5-1201(d)(iv) bars WYDOT from counting a speeding conviction toward suspension as a repeat violator when you were under 80 mph where the limit is 65 or more, or going less than 6 mph over the limit elsewhere. That leniency stops at school and construction zones. Seat belt citations are not moving violations either.

Can a course make a Wyoming ticket go away?

No statewide program does that. Nothing in WYDOT's materials describes a course that erases a conviction, and your WYDOT record looks the same with or without a defensive driving certificate.

The ticket itself belongs to the court. Pay the court, or appear on the court date to contest it, and ask that court directly whether it has any alternative resolution.

Deferral under W.S. 7-13-301 is as close as Wyoming comes. If you and the prosecutor both consent, a judge may hold the case, put you on probation for as long as 36 months and then dismiss it, and the conditions can include a driving course. It has to be negotiated, nobody is entitled to it, and federal rules prohibit it for CDL holders.

The 55 and older discount, and why it is gone

Until 2021, Wyoming law made insurers give a premium cut of at least 10 percent to drivers aged 55 and up who took an approved accident prevention course, classroom or field based, once every two years. WYDOT told legislators in 2020 that just one vendor taught the course in person, in Cheyenne, and charged $150.

Then the Legislature repealed W.S. 26-14-105(c), the subsection that created the mandate, through 2021 Enrolled Act No. 64 (SF0112), effective July 1, 2021. Insurers are still free to offer a discount if they choose, which is why we treat a Wyoming course as an insurance tool and nothing more.

Picking a course for an insurance discount

For license purposes, no Wyoming agency approves defensive driving courses, which leaves your insurer as the only authority that matters. Ask for written answers: which providers count, whether online is accepted, how many years the discount lasts and when a refresher is due.

Hold on to the certificate. If you change insurers, the new company may honor the same completion for its own discount.

Serious offenses carry their own suspensions

No course affects these. Reckless driving within five years: 90 days for a first offense, six months for a second, and a one year revocation for a third.

A first DWUI within 10 years brings 90 days of suspension. A blood alcohol reading of .15 percent or more adds a six month ignition interlock requirement. Drivers under 21 testing at .02 percent or more are also suspended.

If you ignore a ticket

Ignoring a ticket is the worst option. Once a court reports an outstanding citation, WYDOT suspends your privilege with no end date until you comply, under the Nonresident Violator Compact. Wyoming residents are covered by this, not just visitors from member states.

Drivers visiting from a member state are usually allowed to keep driving without posting bond. If they then skip paying or appearing, their own state suspends them.

Insurance proof and SR-22

The minimum liability insurance in Wyoming is 25,000/50,000/20,000. If you are in a crash that injures someone outside your household, or causes more than $1,000 of property damage, you must show you were insured. When WYDOT cannot confirm coverage, it suspends your privilege no matter who caused the crash.

Certain violations require your insurer to file an SR-22 certificate, which has to stay on file for three years. No course replaces proof of insurance or an SR-22.

Getting your license back

Reinstatement after any suspension or revocation is $50; for a child support suspension it is $5. Pay through oneWYO, in person at any driver exam office, or by sending payment to Driver Services in Cheyenne.

Want a probationary license while suspended? Submit a written request for a record review along with the $15 review fee. The probationary license itself is listed at $55 for non-CDL drivers on WYDOT's current fee schedule, although its older withdrawal guide prints $25, so check the figure when you apply. You are limited to one probationary license every five years.