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North Carolina license points
12 points in 3 years
What the rule says happens: license may be suspended
An individual's license may be suspended if they accumulate as many as 12 points within a three-year period.
Points for each violation
| Violation, in North Carolina’s wording | Points |
|---|---|
Passing stopped school bus | 5 |
Aggressive driving | 5 |
Reckless driving | 4 |
Following too close | 4 |
Illegal passing | 4 |
Running through stop sign | 3 |
Speeding in excess of 55 miles per hour | 3 |
Speeding in a school zone in excess of the posted school zone speed limit | 3 |
Running through red light | 3 |
No liability insurance | 3 |
All other moving violations | 2 |
Littering pursuant to G.S. 14-399 when the littering involves the use of a motor vehicle | 1 |
These are the lines we have. North Carolina’s full schedule is at the source links and may list more.
Sources for these lines, word for word
Passing stopped school bus 5
Aggressive driving 5
Reckless driving 4
Following too close 4
Illegal passing 4
Running through stop sign 3
Speeding in excess of 55 miles per hour 3
Speeding in a school zone in excess of the posted school zone speed limit 3
Running through red light 3
No liability insurance 3
All other moving violations 2
Littering pursuant to G.S. 14-399 when the littering involves the use of a motor vehicle 1
When points lead to a suspension or other action
| Points | Within | The rule’s wording | What happens | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 3 years | see the rule | license may be suspended | see the rule |
| 8 | 3 years | see the rule | can result in an additional suspension | following the reinstatement of a license |
| 7 | no period given | see the rule | the Division may request the licensee to attend a conference | see the rule |
| 4 | 3 years | see the rule | the Division may request the licensee to attend a conference | immediately following reinstatement of his license after a period of suspension or revocation |
| 3 | no period given | see the rule | shall constitute a violation of the condition of probation | during a period of probation |
Whether a rule means that many points or more, or more than that many, is in the rule’s own words below.
The rules, word for word
An individual's license may be suspended if they accumulate as many as 12 points within a three-year period.
Eight points within three years following the reinstatement of a license can result in an additional suspension.
Whenever any licensee accumulates as many as seven points or accumulates as many as four points during a three-year period immediately following reinstatement of his license after a period of suspension or revocation, the Division may request the licensee to attend a conference regarding such licensee's driving record.
Any accumulation of three or more points under this subsection during a period of probation shall constitute a violation of the condition of probation.
How long points last
Upon the restoration of the license or driving privilege of such person whose license or driving privilege has been suspended or revoked because of conviction for a traffic offense, any points that might previously have been accumulated in the driver's record shall be cancelled.
When a driving privilege is reinstated, all previous points on an individual's record are canceled.
Which date counts
What it means for a particular case is for the agency to say.
shall assign to the record of such person, as of the date of commission of the offense, a number of points for every such conviction in accordance with the following schedule of convictions and points
Taking points off: courses and clean driving
upon the successful completion of the course taken at the clinic, three points shall be deducted from the licensee's conviction record; provided, that only one deduction of points shall be made on behalf of any licensee within any five-year period.
Drivers may request to attend a driver improvement clinic if they accumulate four points (on the eight-point scale) or seven points (on the 12-point scale) on their driving record. To receive point credit, an individual must qualify and have a conference with an administrative hearings officer.
Drivers can attend driving improvement clinics once every five years.
Tickets from other states
The above provisions of this subsection shall only apply to violations and convictions which take place within the State of North Carolina.
The point system itself
If an individual is convicted in North Carolina of certain motor vehicle violations, driver license points are assessed on their driving record based on the date of the offense (Note: Insurance companies use a different point system to determine insurance rates).
More from North Carolina’s rules
within a three-year period, accumulated 12 or more points, or eight or more points in the three-year period immediately following the reinstatement of a license which has been suspended or revoked because of a conviction for one or more traffic offenses
In case of the conviction of a licensee of two or more traffic offenses committed on a single occasion, such licensee shall be assessed points for one offense only and if the offenses involved have a different point value, such licensee shall be assessed for the offense having the greater point value.
When a license is suspended under the point system provided for herein, the first such suspension shall be for not more than 60 days; the second such suspension shall not exceed six months and any subsequent suspension shall not exceed one year.
How nearby states compare
Side by side, not like for like. Read each state’s own rule before comparing two of them.
- Alabama
12 points in 2 years
60 days
Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Driver License Point System, read November 12, 2026
- Georgia
15 points in 24 months
will have their license suspended
Georgia DDS, Points and Points Reduction, read November 12, 2026
- Kentucky
12 points in 2 years
suspend or probate the driving privilege
601 KAR 13:025, Point system, read November 12, 2026
Check a ticket in North Carolina
Total so far
Reference only, not legal or insurance advice. Confirm with the agency. Full statement.
What this adds up, and what it can’t say
- This is arithmetic on quoted values, and nothing else. It does not predict any outcome.
- The date a state counts from (the violation date or the conviction date) is as quoted. The calculator does not decide it: it uses the date entered for each line.
- Courts and agencies decide actual outcomes, under the full text of the law and the full driving record, which this page does not have.
- Insurance companies use their own separate systems. This calculator works out nothing about insurance.
- A printed figure is compared with a sum only where the same quoted passage prints a period. The comparison says below, equal to or above. Whether a passage means that figure or more, or more than that figure, is in the passage’s own words.
- How periods are counted here is this calculator’s own convention, not a rule from any source. Months and years are calendar months and years counted back from the date chosen. Where the earlier month is shorter, its last day is used. The day reached is the period’s first day, and a line dated on that first day is outside the period. A line dated on the date chosen is inside. For example, a period of one month ending March 31, 2026 has the first day February 28, 2026, so a line dated that day is not counted and a line dated the day after is. An agency may count differently.
- Nothing typed here leaves this page or is stored.
The checker has only the violations in the table above.