New York License Points: The 2026 Rules

What Actually Changed on February 16, 2026

• The lookback window is now 24 months, up from 18, for counting points toward license action. Old tickets count against you for half a year longer.
• Alcohol or drug-related driving convictions: 0 → 11 points. A DWI, DWAI, or drug-impaired conviction now carries points where it used to carry none.
• Aggravated Unlicensed Operation: 0 → 11 points.
• Passing a stopped school bus: 5 → 8 points.
• Work-zone speeding: 8 points.
• Over-height vehicle bridge strikes: 0 → 8 points.
• Leaving the scene of a personal-injury crash: 3 → 5 points. Failure to exercise due care rose to 5, and speed contests went from 0 to 5.

Just as important is what did not change: cell phone and texting tickets remain 5 points, despite widespread claims of an increase. Speeding still runs 3 points at 1 to 10 mph over, 4 at 11 to 20, 6 at 21 to 30, 8 at 31 to 40, and 11 above 40. Reckless driving is still 5 points, on top of being a misdemeanor.

Two Clocks Run at the Same Time

The system runs on two different windows, and mixing them up is how drivers get surprised. The 24-month window is what the DMV uses for license action: hit 11 points within it and a suspension is on the table. The 18-month window is what triggers the Driver Responsibility Assessment: reach 6 points within it and the DMV bills you $100 a year for three years, entirely separate from your court fines. An alcohol or drug conviction, or a chemical test refusal, triggers its own $250-a-year assessment for three years, points or no points.

The practical math: one 5-point cell phone ticket plus a 3-point speed within 18 months is 8 points, a triggered assessment, and an insurance file your carrier will re-rate. Two tickets most people would “just pay.”

The New 11-Point Reality for DWI and AUO

The biggest change got the least coverage. An alcohol or drug-related driving conviction now carries 11 points, and so does Aggravated Unlicensed Operation. Eleven points is the suspension threshold. That means the license consequences of a DWI conviction no longer end with the court-ordered revocation: the conviction also lands a full 11-point block in your 24-month ledger, where it stacks with every ticket around it. The same is true for AUO, a charge people routinely pick up without realizing their license was suspended.

Under these rules, fighting the underlying charge, or negotiating it to a non-11-point disposition, is worth more than it was a year ago. That work happens before the plea, not after.

How Points Actually Come Off (and How They Do Not)

A DMV-approved Point and Insurance Reduction Program course subtracts up to four points from your total for suspension-calculation purposes and earns a small insurance discount. It does not erase convictions, and it does not touch the Driver Responsibility Assessment. There is no procedure for removing a conviction’s points after the fact.

The real lever is earlier. Outside New York City there is no Traffic Violations Bureau: tickets in Saratoga County and the rest of the Capital Region are prosecuted in local courts where reductions are negotiated as a matter of routine. A 6-point speed can become a lower-point violation; some charges can resolve with zero points. That negotiation, before any guilty plea, is the only stage where the points are genuinely in play. Our guide on whether to fight or pay a ticket walks through the decision honestly.

Holding a Ticket? Do the Math Before You Plead.

Attorney Andrew DeLuca handles traffic matters, DWI, and criminal cases in the courts of Saratoga, Warren, Washington, Fulton, and Montgomery Counties. Send a photo of the ticket and get a straight answer on what a guilty plea would cost you under the 2026 rules, and what a realistic reduction looks like.

Call for a free consultation: 518-245-9109