In Virginia, the Department of Motor Vehicles assigns you demerit points to your driving record after you are convicted of a traffic violation. The amount of demerit points depends on the severity of the offense.

The opposite of demerit points are safe driving points. These 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 5 safe driving points and may use these to offset demerit points. If you are 18 or older, you may be awarded 5 safe driving points after you successfully complete a driver improvement clinic. If a court requires you to complete a clinic, then it will be up to the court to determine if you will be awarded any safe driving points.

The improvement clinic consists of eight-hour classroom sessions where you learn defensive driving techniques. You can take this type of traffic school as often as you like but can only receive safety points every 2 years.

To find out if there is a limit to the amount of times you can take the clinic to earn safety points within a lifetime, contact the VA DMV.