When I am meeting with clients, potential clients, or even family and friends, I am often asked about "points" on a driver's license. Some frequent questions are: How many points can I have before I lose my license? If I get too many points, will I become an Habitual Traffic Violator. Typically, most people wrongfully think that "points" on their license is their biggest driving/licensing concern.
In reviewing all the ways that the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles and Courts can suspend a driver's license, a suspension for an accumulation of "points" is actually rare. Indiana Law does provide for drivers license suspensions if a driver accumulates a large amount of points within a designated period of time. In these situations, the BMV can require a driver to attend an administrative hearing to address the points. At the hearing, a BMV hearing officer will decide what punishment, if any, the driver should receive.
For example, a driver who accumulates 18 points within a two year period will be required to attend a BMV "points" hearing. 140 I.A.C. 1-4.5-4. At the hearing, the hearing officer will decide what action to take regarding the person's license. The hearing officer could do one of the following: a) do nothing; b) place the driver on probation, or c) suspend the person's drivers license.
So, how can a driver avoid getting points on their license? I jokingly tell my friends and family, "don't break the law." But in all reality, if you get a ticket, look into entering a "deferral" program. This program will require you to pay a fee and obtain no further tickets for a six (6) to twelve (12) month period. When the program period ends, the case will be dismissed. Since there is no conviction or judgment, the BMV is not notified of the ticket. If the there is no conviction or judgment, there are no points.
If you have questions about traffic tickets, driver's license suspensions or more serious offenses such as, Operating While Intoxicated (DUI/OWI), call me, Gregory A. Miller, a Fort Wayne Criminal Defense Attorney, at (260) 833-7249.
