The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles states that if you are convicted of a demerit-point violation committed when you are age 18 or 19 you will be required to complete a driver improvement clinic.

If you are under age 20 a computer-based driver improvement clinic will not satisfy a driver improvement clinic requirement. You must satisfactorily complete a clinic that provides classroom instruction.

If DMV requires you to attend a clinic, you must complete the entire eight-hour course. If you fail to satisfactorily complete the clinic within 90 days, your driving privilege will be suspended until you meet this requirement

If you are age 18 or older, you may be awarded five safe driving points after you successfully complete a driver improvement clinic. If a court requires you to complete a clinic, the court determines if you will be awarded safe driving points. So it appears here that it would be up to the court, if that is who is mandating your son to take a driver improvement class, to determine if he will receive safe driving points or not.

As a VA motorist you will normally receive six demerit points if you speed 20 miles per hour or more above the posted speed limit. Demerit points remain valid two years from the date you commit an offense. And a speeding conviction such as this stays on your driving record for 5 years.

Safe Driving Points are assigned for each full calendar year that you hold a valid Virginia driver’s license and drive without any violations or suspensions. In some cases, you may also earn safe driving points by completing a driver improvement clinic. You can accumulate a total of five safe driving points and you may use these safe driving points to offset demerit points.

So if your son is able to receive 5 safe driving points that would leave 1 demerit point on his driving record. There is no mention of taking the original traffic violation off the record though so that would remain for insurance companies to see.

In general insurance companies finds about moving violations you have been convicted of when they pull your motor vehicle record (MVR). However in Virginia it is noted that when you are convicted of a traffic violation, the court notifies the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The DMV then does the following:

• posts the conviction to your driving record;
• assigns you demerit points according to the severity of the offense;
• issues an order of suspension, if applicable;
• issues an order requiring the successful completion of a driver improvement clinic, if applicable; and
• notifies your insurance company upon request.

So it appears that the DMV may directly notify your insurance company of your son's traffic violation. Your insurance company may also assign points on your insurance record; however, DMV demerit points are not related to insurance company points. Insurance company points are developed by individual companies.

If it is the DMV that will inform your insurance company about your son's speeding ticket then you would need to find out from the VA DMV how long that normally takes. If instead your insurance company will find out the next time they pull your household MVRs then that is usually at renewal time or if you are starting a new policy with an insurance carrier.

You or your son can get Virginia auto insurance quotes here with us if your insurance goes up due to his speeding citation.