As most drivers know, all states in the United States, including Illinois, use a point system operated and monitored by each individual Department of Motor Vehicles. These points are placed on the driving record of drivers who are successfully charged with moving traffic violations.
Once you reach a certain amount of incidents or points, you run the risk of facing varying lengths of license suspension and issues with insurance companies.
Many people believe that a couple of minor traffic violations or traffic tickets are just an expensive hassle until they are sent summons for court and begin receiving correspondence from the local DMV about the negative consequences they are facing.
If this happens, it can be hard to understand what's going on and what options you have. At Dohman Law Group our Rolling Meadows traffic defense lawyers have the legal experience necessary to help and guide you, every step of the way.
Each violation in the state of Illinois comes with a different amount of points, with most minor and common traffic violations only seeing a couple of points, while more serious crimes and incidents can see dozens or more. Even the smallest detail of your case can change the number of points you are given.
For example, if you are speeding by under ten miles per hour, you will only be given 5 points, while speeding in school or construction zones, even if it's just by 2 miles an hour, is automatically 20 points.
The most common offenses are as follows:
You can receive points for driving under the minimum speed limit, causing property damage, not obeying traffic signs or other traffic laws, or even improper passing. There are over 100 various different traffic citations and traffic convictions that come with point assignments. A full list can be found on The Illinois State Government Website.
The penalties for The Illinois DMV Point System don't kick in immediately, so you may have points on your license without realizing it. For drivers over 21 years of age, your points aren't reviewed until your third offense. If you have three speeding tickets, for example, you could have more than 15 points on your license when you receive your third speeding ticket.
Illinois is more strict with younger drivers, totaling up their points after only 2 incidents. This is designed to discourage younger drivers from continuing to make bad or dangerous driving choices.
For drivers under 21, suspension periods are as follows:
For drivers over 21, suspensions periods are as follows:
If your license is revoked, you may still be able to regain it. Persons with multiple DUIs, for example, may be able to become eligible to drive again after undergoing certain rehabilitation and education programs and waiting a certain amount of time. If you are eligible to get your license reinstated, you will have to attend a hearing with the Secretary of State's office, pay filing fees and reinstatement fees, and retake both written and driven license exams.
While these points, thankfully, don't last forever, they do stick around for quite a while. It takes around 5 years for traffic points to be removed from your record in Illinois. These points really only disappear, however, if your driving has improved in that time. If you have had several tickets or violations, or suspensions, your points may stay on your license until a judge decides you have begun to improve your driving.
What many drivers don't know is that if you do something such as pay a traffic ticket online, for example, this counts as an admittance of guilt and an acceptance of a guilty verdict, which places these points on your license.
Since these points last for 5 years on your license, you can go get two speeding tickets and go four years without another one, but the second you get a third in that 5-year time frame, you're facing a license suspension.
Thankfully, these points on your license do disappear eventually, but there is no way to get them taken off early. This can be very stressful for those facing their third offense and license suspension. Most people only face the shortest amount of suspension, thankfully, if they face suspension at all.
A traffic attorney can petition to make sure your points are taken off exactly at the 5-year mark, but not beforehand. This is more like to have a favorable outcome for your and your traffic violation attorney if you have taken traffic school courses or improved your driving and haven't had additional instances.
You do have other options rather than just accepting the points onto your license in the first place. If you attend court and fight against your traffic charges or tickets, and win, you won't be given any points on your driving record. This goes for asking for a sentence of court supervision as well.
As long as you successfully complete your assigned timeline of court supervision, no convictions will be placed on your criminal record and no points will be added to your driving record. You may also be able to negotiate a reduction in charges to at least lower the number of points you receive.
Whether you're facing any period of time of suspension after three traffic violations or facing any other traffic-related issues such as traffic violation convictions, a permanent loss of driving privileges, or other traffic offenses, you're not alone. The experienced traffic attorneys at Dohman Law Group are here to help. Call us today for a free initial consultation, and let us help you get back on the road.
