State point systems vary greatly from one state to another however you start with 0 points on your driver's license. Then depending upon your state's point system you may only receive negative or demerit points on your license and driving record for violations of the law or if you state has safety points you can actually be assigned some positive points to help offset any demerit points you may accumulate.

You start off with a clean driving record in each state and then normally you are accessed points when you are convicted of various violations of traffic laws such as speeding, failure to yield, not stopping at a stop sign or red light. These are minor violations while reckless driving, driving without a license or DUI would be considered more serious offenses. The more serious the offense the more points are assigned to your motor vehicle record (MVR). If you accumulate too many points your may have to attend a driver improvement course, go to a hearing and plead your case to keep your license or just receive an automatic suspension for a certain time period for being considered a habitual offender.

Accumulating points (demerit points are usually what they are referred to by the state) for moving violations is not good and can affect your ability to drive, your insurance rates ( a bad driving record increases your auto insurance premiums) and even what jobs you can get if your driving record is looked at as part of the interviewing process.

Some states however also have safety or positive points that you can accumulate for being a safe driver and going without obtaining any citations for violating traffic laws. For instance in Virginia safety 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.

For example if you for five years you have followed all the safe driving rules and not received any tickets you would accumulate a safe driving point each year, for a total of five points. If then one day you run a red light the VA DMV would assign four demerit points to your driving record. However, since you had earned five safe driving points, you would end up with one safe driving point left on your record.

To find out about your state's points system and what points you may have on your driving record, contact your state's Department of Motor Vehicles. If you find you have too many points on your license and could get it suspended if you receive any more than you may check with your DMV to see if attending traffic school or a driver improvement course could help you reduce your point total.