Michigan Traffic Ticket Points

Under Michigan’s point system, each traffic violation has a point value. Points are placed on your driver record only after you have been convicted or found guilty of or responsible for a civil infraction. Points placed on your driver record remain there for two years from the date of conviction.

Six Points:

• Manslaughter, negligent homicide, or other felony involving use of a motor vehicle.
• Operating under the influence of liquor or drugs.
• Failing to stop and give identification at the scene of a crash.
• Reckless driving.
• Unlawful bodily alcohol content of 0.08 or more.
• Refusal to take a chemical test.
• Fleeing or eluding a police officer.

Four Points:

• Drag racing.
• Operating while visibly impaired.
• Under age 21 with any bodily alcohol content.
• 16 mph or more over the legal speed limit.
• Failure to yield/show due caution for emergency vehicles.

Three Points:

• Careless driving.
• Disobeying a traffic signal or stop sign or improper passing.
• 11 through 15 mph over the legal speed limit.
• Failure to stop at railroad crossing.
• Failure to stop for a school bus or for disobeying a school crossing guard.

Two Points:

• 10 mph or less over the legal speed limit.
• Open alcohol container in vehicle.
• All other moving violations of traffic laws.
• Refusal of Preliminary Breath Test (PBT) by anyone under age 21.

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Michigan Points Surcharge

The Driver Responsibility Program calls for monetary sanctions for drivers who:

• Accumulate seven or more points on their driving record (Category 1), or
• Are convicted of specific qualifying offenses (Category 2)

Only driving offenses with arrest or incident dates on, or after, October 1, 2003, will be counted. Points accumulated prior to October 2, 2003 are not eligible for consideration under this new law.

Category 1

Category 1 offenses, such as speeding, improper turns, and following too closely, are assessed a fee based on the number of points on the driving record, with a required minimum of seven points. The fees assessed begin at $100 and increase by $50 for each additional point above seven points.

Drivers assessed a fee for seven or more points under Category 1 will be assessed only once per year. Category 1 fees will not be assessed in any year in which the number of points on a driving record falls below seven.

Category 2

Certain offenses are classified as "qualifying offenses" and carry their own driver responsibility fee independent from the number of points on the driving record. Drivers convicted of qualifying offenses will be assessed a driver responsibility fee of $150, $200, $500 or $1,000 for two consecutive years. The amount is determined by the relative seriousness of the offense. For example:

• Drunk Driving (Operating While Intoxicated) = $1,000
• Reckless Driving = $500
• No Proof of Insurance = $200
• Drove While License Expired = $150

Points from Category 2 offenses and convictions are NOT counted toward the point total for Category 1.

Multiple driver responsibility fees are assessed if a driver is convicted of multiple qualifying offenses under Category 2.

Driver responsibility fees are assessed for two consecutive years for Category 2 convictions. The second year's fees will be assessed on the anniversary date of the first year's fees.

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Michigan Suspended Driver License

The privilege to drive is often taken for granted, but you may lose this privilege for a variety of reasons. Any action taken against your driver license will depend on a number of factors, including the type of violation involved and your driving record.

Actions range from restrictions to revocations. Revocation, the termination of the operator's license and privilege to operate a motor vehicle, is the most serious. A driver must wait one year after a first revocation and five years after a second to reapply. Even then there is no guarantee—a determination concerning the driver’s ability to drive safely must be made.

A suspension usually will be for a definite period and have a beginning and an end. However, restrictions or suspensions may also be "indefinite" in nature. For example, an indefinite suspension imposed on a driver for a medical reason will last until the medical condition has been favorably re-evaluated.

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Why will YOU love TicketHELP if you received a Michigan traffic ticket?

It’s FREE!

You’ll speak with a local Michigan traffic ticket attorney and the conversation and advice is free. You may decide to retain the attorney but the decision to do so is entirely yours.

It’s quick and easy.

Just complete our short form and you are on your way. It shouldn’t take more than one minute to tell us what type of Michigan traffic ticket or other Michigan driver license issue you need assistance with, where it happened and how we can contact you.

We can save you time.

Instead of taking all the time to figure this out yourself, why not get answers immediately by asking an experienced Michigan traffic ticket lawyer who deals with issues like yours every day.

We can save you money.

Smart decisions and good strategy will help keep monetary damage to a minimum when dealing with Michigan traffic tickets and Michigan driver license points.

No miracle fixes. Sound, practical advice.

Local Michigan traffic ticket attorneys understand how Michigan differs from other states and understands that there are differences from county to county within the state. There are no “one size fits all” solutions. Whether it’s an Oakland county speeding ticket, a Wayne county suspended license issue or a Macomb county red light ticket, your TicketHELP attorney will have experience specific to that location.

TicketHELP was created by lawyers.

TicketHELP connects motorists like you with attorneys who can help. TicketHELP was created by traffic ticket lawyers who have offered free consultations for years and decided to extend that practice to the entire country. This service is meant to be a simple solution based on a model that has worked for hundreds of motorists and attorneys in the past.

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About Michigan*

The Michigan State Highway Department (MDOT today) was established in 1905. Below are some of the Department’s historical milestones.

1911--Nation's first centerline on River Road near Trenton painted by the Wayne County Road Commission - considered one of the most important safety devices in the history of auto transportation.

1925--First Highway Department to use aerial surveys for highway design

1930--World's first international underwater auto tunnel (Detroit-Windsor Tunnel)

1942--Nation's first urban depressed freeway opens - Davison Expressway through Highway Park (now M-8)

1958--First "Welcome to Michigan" signs on major trunklines, also first "Gas-Food-Lodging" signs

1960-1970--The heyday of road construction - nearly 1,000 miles of interstate built in this decade

1973--Michigan Department of State Highways becomes the Michigan Department of Highways and Transportation - consolidating all transportation programs into a single agency; State Aeronautics Commission joins department.

1978--Michigan Department of Highways and Transportation becomes the Michigan Department of Transportation

1988--MDOT takes computers to construction field offices for the first time when it implements the Construction Project Record Keeping System (CPRKS).

1995--MDOT establishes the first Web site hosted by a state agency

*Information above courtesy of and taken directly from the Michigan Department of Transportation