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Drivers who rack up traffic violations can face a penalty that goes beyond a fine: losing their driver’s license for an extended period. In the United States, each state sets its own rules for when someone can lose their license because of their driving behavior.
In Florida, Law 322.27 includes a point system that penalizes different traffic offenses and allows a driver’s license to be suspended when certain thresholds are reached. The severity of the penalty depends on the violations on record and how much time passes between them.
But not all offenses carry the same weight, since some add more points than others and can bring drivers closer to a suspension.
What Law 322.27 says and when a driver’s license can be suspended
Florida Law 322.27 sets up a point system to penalize drivers who accumulate traffic violations. According to the official text of the Florida Statutes, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles can suspend a license when its records show that a driver was convicted of offenses totaling 12 points or more.
The rule applies in Florida and provides different penalties depending on repeat offenses. To calculate the points, the department uses the date each violation was committed as the reference point, as set out in section 4 of the same law.
How many points does each traffic violation add to a driver’s license
Section 3 of Law 322.27 sets out how many points apply to different violations. Some of the offenses covered by the law are:
- Speeding: 3 points if you are not more than 15 miles per hour over the limit, and 4 points if you exceed it by more than that.
- Reckless driving: 4 points.
- Leaving the scene of a crash that caused more than $50 in property damage: 6 points.
- Passing a stopped school bus: 4 points, or 6 if the violation causes serious injury or the death of a person.
- Failing to obey a traffic signal: 4 points, with the exceptions provided by law.
- Driving illegally through a railroad crossing: 6 points.
- Other moving violations: 3 points, except where the law provides otherwise.
The law also says a traffic violation that causes a crash can add 4 points, except for certain offenses, such as speeding and the illegal use of wireless devices, which have a specific assignment. It also sets 2 additional points when a violation is committed, along with the illegal use of a wireless device in a school zone.
What happens when a driver reaches 24 points within a 36-month period
Law 322.27 establishes a progressive suspension scale in which a driver can temporarily lose their license before reaching the maximum point total covered by the one-year penalty.
The timeframes are:
- 12 points in 12 months: suspension of up to 30 days.
- 18 points in 18 months: suspension of up to 3 months. This includes the points that led to the previous suspension.
- 24 points in 36 months: suspension of up to 1 year. This also includes the points counted in earlier stages.
The rule also authorizes the department to send a warning letter when a license holder reaches a risk zone, to let them know that additional traffic convictions could lead to a suspension of their driver’s license.