You may have been purposely pumping gas to make it to work on time or accidentally accelerating while on a familiar route. Either way, a police officer has issued a speeding ticket that needs addressing.
Pleading guilty by paying the ticket fine is one option. However, this doesn’t eliminate the points you have accumulated on your driving record. Gaining a general understanding of the Pennsylvania point system can help you decide if you’d like to challenge a speeding ticket.
Driving record
Depending on how many miles over the speed limit you were driving, you’ll receive two to five points on your record. You might want to just pay the fine immediately if this is your first ticket, but if points are starting to stack up on your record, your case is worthy of a fight.
If you continually amass driving record points, these are some corrective actions the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) may issue to avoid license suspension:
- First six-point accumulation: When you reach your first six points, PennDOT will request you take a written examination on safe driving habits and driving laws. Passage of the exam within 30 days will allow you to keep your license and shave two points off your record.
- Second six-point accumulation: An accumulation of another six points creates grounds for a PennDOT administrative hearing. During the hearing, an examiner will review your record and could decide to suspend your license for 15 days, order you to take an on-road driving exam or not do anything.
- Third six -point accumulation: Further departmental hearings will be set after each consecutive accumulation of six points. You’ll face license suspension if you don’t show up to your assigned hearing, and it will remain suspended until a hearing takes place. During each hearing, an examiner will decide if a 30-day license suspension is necessary.
It’s also worth noting that accruing 11 points or more can result in longer license suspension, and one-off, excessive speeding violations can also result in license suspension.
Legal help
Depending on your driving record, just one speeding ticket can set you up for short- or long-term driver’s license suspension. Although there are opportunities to reduce points on your driving record — from traffic school to keeping your record clean for a year — the right to drive is valuable to many of our lives. A speeding ticket can also lead to other problems, like raised car insurance rates. Rather than accepting a speeding ticket out of convenience-sake, leaning on legal guidance can help keep you on the road.
