Like most states, Nevada has developed a demerit point system for drivers. The objective is to get repeat offenders of traffic laws off the road. The basics of the system are this: if you receive 12 points within a 12-month period, your driver’s license gets suspended for 6 months. This program is administered by the Nevada DMV.
How Does It Work?
All traffic courts in the state report driving convictions to the DMV. Offenses have been assigned a point value and based on the charge the traffic court convicts you of and the appropriate number of points is assessed against your driving record.
For example, a conviction of 21-30 mph over the posted speed limit will result in 3 points being assessed to your driving record. A partial listing of violations and their point values appears on the Nevada DMV website is reproduced below:
Offenses and Point Values
The following is a partial list of traffic violations, showing the demerit points that are assigned to your driving record. If you have a Commercial Driver License, there are additional penalties for some violations and additional demerit points may be assigned.
| Reckless Driving | 8 | Speeding | |
| Careless Driving | 6 | 1 – 10 mph over posted limit | 1 |
| Failure to give information or render aid at the scene of an accident | 6 | 11 – 20 mph over posted limit | 2 |
| Following too closely | 4 | 21 – 30 mph over posted limit | 3 |
| Failure to yield right-of-way | 4 | 31 – 40 mph over posted limit | 4 |
| Passing a school bus when signals are flashing | 4 | 41 mph or more over posted limit | 5 |
| Hand-held cellphone use or texting (2nd and subsequent offenses) |
4 | Prima Facie speed violation or driving too fast for the conditions | 2 |
| Disobeying a traffic signal or stop sign | 4 | ||
| Impeding traffic, driving too slowly | 2 | ||
| Failure to dim headlights | 2 | ||
Under this system, more serious driving violations carry higher point values. Being convicted of reckless driving will assign 8 points to your driving record. Running a red light will result in 4 points being assessed against your driving record. DUI’s and more serious offenses do not appear on this list, since these charges will automatically result in a revocation of driving privileges.
Nevada DMV will notify you by mail once you have reached the 3-point level or above. During any 12-month period, if you accrue greater than 12 points, the DMV will automatically suspend your license for 6 months. You will be notified of such a suspension by certified mail and will be given the opportunity to attend a hearing on the matter through the Office of Administrative Hearings. Ticket Busters can represent you at an administrative hearing. Talk to your representative for more details.
You can have points removed from your driving record
Once during any 12-month period, you can have 3 points removed from your driving record by voluntarily attending a state approved driving school. This option is only available if the court does not require you to attend traffic school as part of a plea bargain and can only be done once per year. Ticket Busters can assist you with driving school through our traffic school partner. Your Ticket Busters representative can tell you more about this option.
Ticket Busters is the best option is to avoid points
While this sounds overly simplistic, Ticket Busters can also help you avoid points altogether. Certainly, you can avoid points by safely driving the speed limit, and never receiving a ticket. However, the reality is that if you drive on Nevada roads and highways, you are likely to receive a ticket at some point in your driving life. When this happens, call us.
Our services include representing you with the appropriate court in Clark County and negotiating your charge with that court. In most cases, we are able to negotiate a lower charge to a non-moving violation, resulting in no points, and saving you the time of dealing with the courts. If you have received a ticket to appear in a traffic court in Clark County Nevada, call us today, at (702) 666-6666.
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