Like most of your friends and family members in the Jacksonville area, you regularly drive to work, school, restaurants, stores and other places. While a speeding ticket or another moving citation may seem like a costly inconvenience, you may eventually lose your driving privileges.
The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles tracks moving violations, usually assigning points for specific types of misconduct. If you accumulate 12 points in a three-year period, state officials may suspend your driver’s license for 60 days. Furthermore, if you accrue eight points in the three years after a driver’s license suspension, you may face a subsequent one. That suspension is likely to last an entire year.
Some violations are worth more points
The North Carolina DMV point system assesses a different number of points for different violations. For example, littering from a moving vehicle only adds one point to your driving record. By contrast, if you drive on the wrong side of the road, you can expect to accrue four points.
Certain behaviors trigger an automatic suspension
In the Tar Heel State, some types of misconduct lead to an automatic suspension of your driving privileges. That is, even if it is your first citation, certain violations may result in the temporary loss of your driver’s license. Vehicular manslaughter, excessive speeding, highway racing, driving while impaired and other similarly serious offenses fall into this category.
You can check your points
If you have a North Carolina driver’s license, you do not have to mentally keep track of accumulated points. Rather, you can create a MyDMV account to see how many points you have on your record.
Losing your driving privileges may adversely affect your quality of life. It may also inhibit your ability to provide for yourself and your family. By understanding North Carolina’s point system, you can better plan for staying both out of trouble and behind the wheel.
