Virginia Code 46.2-492: Uniform Demerit Point System
A. The Commissioner shall assign point values to those convictions, or findings of not innocent in the case of a juvenile, which are required to be reported to the Department in accordance with § 46.2-383 for traffic offenses committed in violation of the laws of the Commonwealth or any county, city, or town ordinance paralleling and substantially conforming to state law, provided that no conviction, or finding of not innocent in the case of a juvenile for any offense, relating to registration, insurance, or equipment shall be included except as otherwise provided by this title.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 46.2-492
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Shoulder: means that part of a highway between the portion regularly traveled by vehicular traffic and the lateral curbline or ditch. See Virginia Code 46.2-100
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July 1, 1971, as provided by law or which has within defined boundaries a population of 1,000 or more and which has become a town as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-254
- United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
- Vehicle: means every device in, on or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn on a highway, except personal delivery devices and devices moved by human power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Virginia Code 46.2-100
B. The Commissioner shall assign point values to those convictions received from any other state of the United States, the United States, Canada or its provinces, or any territorial subdivision of any of them, of an offense therein, which if committed in this Commonwealth, would be required to be reported to the Department by § 46.2-383.
C. No point assignment shall be made for any conviction which results from a vehicle having been parked or stopped, in order for the driver to sleep or rest, on the shoulder or other portion of a highway not ordinarily used for vehicular traffic. The court shall make a separate finding on this issue and note such finding on the conviction record.
D. The Uniform Demerit Point System standard for rating convictions of traffic offenses shall be based on the severity of the offense and the potential hazardous exposure to other users of the highways and streets. The Commissioner shall designate the point values assigned to convictions, or findings of not innocent in the case of a juvenile, on a graduated scale not to exceed six demerit points for any single conviction. The Commissioner shall develop point system assignments as follows:
1. Serious traffic offenses such as driving while intoxicated in violation of § 18.2-266, persons under age twenty-one driving after illegally consuming alcohol in violation of § 18.2-266.1, reckless driving in violation of § 46.2-852, speeding twenty or more miles per hour above the posted speed limit, racing in violation of § 46.2-865, and other serious traffic offenses as the Commissioner may designate, shall be assigned six demerit points.
2. Relatively serious traffic offenses such as failure to yield the right-of-way in violation of §§ 46.2-820 through 46.2-823, speeding between ten and nineteen miles per hour above the posted speed limit, following too closely in violation of § 46.2-816, failure to stop when entering a highway in violation of § 46.2-863, aggressive driving in violation of § 46.2-868.1 and other relatively serious traffic offenses as the Commissioner may designate, shall be assigned four demerit points.
3. Traffic offenses of a less serious nature such as improper driving in violation of § 46.2-869, speeding between one and nine miles per hour above the posted speed limit, improper passing in violation of § 46.2-838, failure to obey a highway sign in violation of § 46.2-830 and other offenses of a less serious nature as the Commissioner may designate, shall be assigned three demerit points.
E. When a person is convicted of two or more traffic offenses committed on a single occasion, he shall be assessed points for one offense only and if the offenses involved have different point values, he shall be assessed points for the offense having the greater point value.
1974, c. 453, § 46.1-514.6; 1976, c. 86; 1989, c. 727; 1992, c. 856; 1998, c. 430; 2002, cc. 752, 782.