In Maine they do have credit and demerit points so if you have accumulated credit (positive) points you could lose points for traffic violations. Typically though when you are convicted of a moving violation you are assessed demerit points.

So points in ME there are demerits placed against your driver's license every time you are convicted of certain traffic violations. If you reach six points, a warning will be automatically issued to you from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. If you get 12 points or more, your license will be suspended. Points are cumulative, but they are erased one year after your conviction for the traffic offense that earned them.

According the ME Secretary of State they have a list of certain convictions or adjudications for which demerit points have been assigned. Points for a conviction or adjudication will be erased from a driver's record when the conviction or adjudication becomes one year old the BMV notes.

No points may be assigned to those convictions or adjudications that require a statutory revocation or suspension of the license, permit or privilege to operate a motor vehicle by the Secretary of State or by a Court. Notice of assessment of demerit points shall be given when the accumulation reaches 50 percent of the number at which suspension is authorized by these rules. Any person whose driving record shows an accumulation of 12 demerit points for convictions or adjudications within a one year period may have his or her license, permit or privilege to operate suspended for a period up to 15 days.

You can obtain a three (3) point credit for a successful completion of a Defensive Driving Course or a Motorcycle Defensive Driver Course as authorized by the Department of Public Safety or the Secretary of State. The credit will be given only once in a twelve (12) month period and the credit of points will be erased one year from the completion date.

The Maine BMV notes that you can also obtain credits for having a clean record so you can lose your positive ME points to offset any demerit points that you obtain. Every person holding a Maine operator's license whose driving record does not contain any convictions, adjudications, suspensions or revocations during a calendar year shall be awarded 1 (one) violation free credit at the end of each calendar year, except that no person may be permitted to accumulate more than 4 (four) violation free credits.

The Secretary of State may apply such credits to offset an equivalent number of demerit points assigned to a traffic violation. If the Secretary of State receives notice of any motor vehicle violation which resulted in a conviction or adjudication which violation occurred during the period that violation free credits were awarded, the violation free credits shall become invalid.

Maine and New York are both members of the Drivers License Compact (DLC), which requires member states to report convictions of traffic tickets back to the state which the motorist is licensed in. So NYS will inform ME of your speeding ticket if you are convicted of this offense. Whether Maine will add the out of state ticket to your ME driving record and assign it points is up to their state laws.

The Motor Vehicle Laws of Maine (Title 29-A, Chapter 11, Subsection 5) discuss the DLC. In this section of law basically says that the licensing authority in the home state can act as if the offense occurred in the home state and thus penalized the person the same. This means adding the out of state traffic conviction to your driving record.

Title 29-A, section 2458, subsection 3 of the Maine Statutes notes that the ME Secretary of State may assess points for convictions or adjudications in other states or provinces of offenses that, if committed in this State, would be grounds for assessment, so it would appear that for your New York ticket you will be assigned points in Maine. If you have credits on your Maine driving record than they should offset the incoming points from this speeding offense.

The points for speeding in Maine are as follows:

• Exceeding Posted Speed by Less Than 15 Miles Per Hour is 4 points
• Exceeding Posted Speed by at Least 15 Miles Per Hour but less than 30 Miles Per Hour is 6 points
• Exceeding posted speed by at least 30 miles per hour does not come with a points assessment but instead a 30 day license suspension.

To find out more about how this out of state traffic ticket will affect your Maine driver's license contact the ME Bureau of Motor Vehicles.If your Maine auto insurance rates are affected by this NYS speeding ticket, or other violations listed on your MVR, than click here to get affordable car insurance.