Often when people are stopped for a minor traffic infraction, they think that it is not that serious. Often traffic tickets can be paid off or challenged and accruing a couple of points here and there might not seem that bad. What people often do not consider is that the accumulation of too many traffic points in Ft. Lauderdale can have serious consequences, like the suspension of a license. If an individual has accumulated too many points, they should speak with a capable traffic attorney that could advocate for them.
How Many Points Can a Driver Accumulate?
A driver can accumulate as many as there are violations for points, so the real question is when does it become a problem? As far as the driving privilege is concerned, 12 points within 12 months is a problem, 18 points within 18 months is a problem, and 24 points within 36 months is a problem. Any of those combinations would cause the Department of Motor Vehicles to take action against an individual’s driver’s license in Ft. Lauderdale for accumulating too many points over a specific time period.
Consequences of Accumulating Too Many Demerits
There are two major things that happen following the accumulation of too many traffic points in Ft. Lauderdale that a person needs to be concerned about. One is a potential suspension from the Department of Motor Vehicles. Too many points over a specific time period triggers a driver’s license suspension, otherwise known as a point suspension, by the Department of Motor Vehicles in Florida.
The other consequence is that points also could affect insurance rates, whether or not an insurance company will write a policy, and whether or not they would renew a policy. So, the accumulation of points could affect the ability to keep a license and the ability to obtain a reasonable insurance. Those are the two main ramifications of points on an individual’s record.
Hardship Licenses
Each person is different and each case is different, but with the point suspension, there might be a way to petition the Department of Motor Vehicles for a hardship license, otherwise known as a business purpose license. For example, if an individual is facing a point suspension in Ft. Lauderdale, the Department of Motor Vehicles may, depending on the record and the individual, consider a person for a hardship license, which gives them a limited driver’s license during the period of the suspension.
In a lot of cases, the department will require a driving improvement course or driving school as a prerequisite for consideration for the hardship license. That would be at the discretion of the Department of Motor Vehicles. A hardship license is typically a license used for work, educational, religious, and medical purposes. Even if the accumulation of too many traffic points in Ft. Lauderdale results in a point suspension, the individual still has legal options that they could pursue.
Avoiding a Point Suspension
The other way to avoid a point suspension after it has already happened or it looks like it is going to happen in limited cases is for an individual to challenge a prior case where they received points and reverse the case or two to bring them below the threshold amount of points that is triggering the point suspension. That would be a way to avoid the suspension retroactively.
This brings up a very important point. It is very important when an individual receives any traffic violation, especially a moving violation or any violation that could carry with it points against an individual’s driver’s license, to consult an experienced traffic attorney in Ft. Lauderdale who could look for ways to resolve the charge or the citation without having points on their record. That would be by fighting the citation in traffic court, entering a plea of not guilty to get the citation dismissed, and if it is not dismissed, seeking to resolve the case and the citation whereby an individual receives a withholding of adjudication without any points assessed against their driver’s license record.
Is It Possible to Accumulate Good Points?
While accumulating good points is not possible, after a certain period of time demerit points can fall off of a person’s record. A bad record can become a good record. If there has been some bad behavior in the past and there is a period of time over which the behavior has improved, they do not go away completely. For example, if someone is looking at a four-year history and the points were long ago, those points would not be held against the driver.
Insurance companies give better rates or discounts for safe driving. It would depend on the company and what kind of record they are looking at and how far back they go. In Ft. Lauderdale, doing that that would be the insurance company giving the consumer or a prospective insured an incentive to go with their company by offering them a discount for good driving. The accumulation of too many traffic points in Ft. Lauderdale is certainly not a good thing, but it is something that can be eventually rectified with the help of a lawyer.
