Driver's license point systems: suspension thresholds and lookback periods by US state
For each US state that runs a demerit-point system: how many points trigger a license suspension, over what lookback period, and for how long the suspension runs — sourced from each state's statute or DMV rule. Answers 'how many points until my license is suspended in [state]', 'how long do points stay on my license in [state]', and 'does [state] have a points system'. The thresholds differ sharply (Florida: 12 points/12 months = 30 days, 18/18 = 3 months, 24/36 = 1 year; North Carolina: 12 points in 3 years, or 8 after a reinstatement) and roughly ten states run no point system at all — a nuance the content-mill summaries flatten. States with no point system get a record saying so, from the state's own page.
The data
| State | Suspension threshold | Statute or rule citation | Additional tiers | Suspension duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | four or more points in 12 months, six or more points in 24 months, or eight or more points in 36 months | Cal. Veh. Code 12810.5(a) | ||
| Colorado | twelve points or more within any twelve consecutive months | Colo. Rev. Stat. 42-2-127(1)(a) | eighteen points or more within any twenty-four consecutive months, or, in the case of a minor driver eighteen years of age or older, who has accumulated nine points or more within any twelve consecutive months, or twelve points or more within any twenty-four consecutive months, or fourteen points or more for violations occurring after reaching the age of eighteen years | |
| Florida | 12 points within a 12-month period | Fla. Stat. 322.27(3) | When a licensee accumulates 18 points, including points upon which suspension action is taken under paragraph (a), within an 18-month period, the suspension shall be for a period of not more than 3 months. (c) When a licensee accumulates 24 points, including points upon which suspension action is taken under paragraphs (a) and (b), within a 36-month period, the suspension shall be for a period of not more than 1 year. | not more than 30 days |
| Georgia | a violation point count of 15 or more points in any consecutive 24 month period | O.C.G.A. 40-5-57(c)(1)(B) | ||
| Idaho | a violation point count of twelve (12) or more points in any consecutive twelve (12) month period | Idaho Code 49-326(1)(i) | ||
| Maryland | Suspend the license of each individual who accumulates 8 points | Md. Code, Transportation 16-404(a) | Revoke the license of each individual who accumulates 12 points | |
| Missouri | eight points in eighteen months | Mo. Rev. Stat. 302.304.3 | ||
| Nevada | the first accumulation of 12 demerit points during a 12-month period | Nev. Rev. Stat. 483.475(3) | For the second accumulation within 3 years of 12 demerit points during a 12-month period, 1 year. | 6 months |
| North Carolina | within a three-year period, accumulated 12 or more points | N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-16 | eight or more points in the three-year period immediately following the reinstatement of a license which has been suspended or revoked | the first such suspension shall be for not more than 60 days; the second such suspension shall not exceed six months and any subsequent suspension shall not exceed one year |
| North Dakota | an accumulated point total of twelve or more points | N.D. Cent. Code 39-06.1-10(2) | Thirteen and above 7 days for each point over eleven | 7 days |
| Ohio | twelve points or more have been charged against the person within a two-year period | Ohio Rev. Code 4510.037(B), (E) | ||
| Pennsylvania | an accumulation of 11 points or more | 75 Pa.C.S. 1539(a), (b) | the second suspension shall be for a period of 10 days for each point, the third suspension shall be for a period of 15 days for each point and any subsequent suspension shall be for a period of one year | The first suspension shall be for a period of 5 days for each point |
| South Carolina | a total of twelve points assessed against a driver | S.C. Code Ann. 56-1-740(A) | not more than six months | |
| Wisconsin | the operator must have accumulated 12 demerit points in any 12-month period | Wis. Stat. 343.32(2)(c)1. |
Where this came from
Every record above links the page it was taken from and quotes the sentence that states it. These are the 14 sources this dataset was assembled from.
- leginfo.legislature.ca.govhttps://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH§ionNum=12810.5
- codes.findlaw.comhttps://codes.findlaw.com/co/title-42-vehicles-and-traffic/co-rev-st-sect-42-2-127.html
- leg.state.fl.ushttps://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0300-0399/0322/Sections/0322.27.html
- codes.findlaw.comhttps://codes.findlaw.com/ga/title-40-motor-vehicles-and-traffic/ga-code-sect-40-5-57.html
- legislature.idaho.govhttps://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title49/T49CH3/SECT49-326/
- mgaleg.maryland.govhttps://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtr§ion=16-404
- revisor.mo.govhttps://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=302.304
- leg.state.nv.ushttps://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-483.html
- ncleg.govhttps://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_20/GS_20-16.html
- ndlegis.govhttps://www.ndlegis.gov/cencode/t39c06-1.pdf
- codes.ohio.govhttps://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-4510.037
- codes.findlaw.comhttps://codes.findlaw.com/pa/title-75-pacsa-vehicles/pa-csa-sect-75-1539.html
- scstatehouse.govhttps://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t56c001.php
- docs.legis.wisconsin.govhttps://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/343.32
Machine-readable
- data.jsonThe whole dataset — every record with its source URL and source quote.
- Open Knowledge Format bundleOne JSON object per line — every record's frontmatter and quoted span exactly as it is held here, in one fetch.
- data.csvThe same records as one flat table, for a spreadsheet or a dataframe. The last four columns are the source URL, the quoted sentence it was read from, the date we last checked it, and which columns are our reading rather than the page's words.
- How this is made and checkedWhat "verified against source" does and does not mean.
From your own code
Same records, same quotes, without scraping the page: refsource is on PyPI and npm. Each value comes back carrying the URL it was read from and the sentence on that page that states it — .source and .quote sit on the value itself rather than in a side channel, so the checking step is available instead of skipped.
pip install refsource
refsource lookup driver-license-points-thresholds-by-state state=California
npx -y refsource lookup driver-license-points-thresholds-by-state state=CaliforniaSet your AI assistant up to use this
Two files and no account. Put this in .mcp.json at the root of your project — Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code and Codex all read that file — and your assistant can look this dataset up instead of recalling it. The server is remote, keyless and read-only.
{
"mcpServers": {
"referencesource": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://referencesource.org/mcp"
}
}
}Add to Cursor · or, on the command line: claude mcp add --transport http referencesource https://referencesource.org/mcp --scope project
Then one line in the project's CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md, so the assistant knows when to reach for it:
When a question needs "Driver's license point systems: suspension thresholds and lookback periods by US state", call the referencesource MCP server at https://referencesource.org/mcp (tool `search_records`, dataset_slug `driver-license-points-thresholds-by-state`) instead of answering from memory — every record it returns carries its source URL and a verbatim quote from that page.What each tool does, and the servers built over single registers: Connect your AI assistant.