7.1. Records.
-- W. Va. Code §
17B-2-14 requires that the
Division keep records in order that an individual record of the licensee
showing the convictions of such licensee is readily ascertainable and available
for consideration by the Division upon any application for renewal of license
"and at other suitable times" consistent with the provisions of W. Va. Code
§
17B-3-6(a).
Accordingly, a recordkeeping system to be known as the Point System and to be
administered by the Division's Driver Improvement Section is established in
this section.
7.2. Offenses. --
Point Total -- When any licensee of the State of West Virginia who has reached
the age of eighteen years or older or has obtained a level three full license,
is convicted in the State of West Virginia or, pursuant to the provisions of W.
Va. Code §
17B-3-3, in any other
jurisdiction, of any of the following offenses involving a motor vehicle, which
conviction has become final, the Division shall enter the offense and the point
total shown opposite the offense on the licensee's driver record maintained by
the Division of Motor Vehicles. However, the division shall not record any
conviction which is received more than one year from the date of conviction
unless the nature of the offense by statute requires suspension, revocation, or
disqualification or the offense was committed by a licensee with a Commercial
Driver's License or committed in a Commercial Vehicle.
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Statute Violated
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General Description of Offenses
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Point Value
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§17C-5-3,
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Reckless Driving
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6
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§17C-18-1
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§17C-4-2,
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Hit and run involving property damage
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6
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§17C-4-3,
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§17C-4-4,
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§17C-4-5,
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§17C-4-6
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§17C-18-1
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§17C-6-1
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Speeding in school zone
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6
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§
61-5-17
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Fleeing from an officer in a vehicle
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8
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§17C-3-4,
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Failure to obey stop signs and other traffic signs
and
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3
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§17C-12-5,
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control devices, except failure to obey traffic
control signals
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§17C-18-1
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§17C-3-5,
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Failure to obey traffic control signals or
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3
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§17C-3-7,
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traffic light signals
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§17C-18-1
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§17C-7-2,
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Driving to left side of roadway
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3
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§17C-7-6,
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§17C-18-1
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§17C-6-1,
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Driving too fast for conditions, failure to
keep
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3
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§17C-18-1
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vehicle under control or hazardous driving
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§17C-6-1,
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Speeding in violation of specified or
established
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6
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§17C-6-4,
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limits where the speed was twenty (20) m.p.h.
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§17C-18-1
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or more over the posted speed limit.
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Speeding in violation of specified or established
limits where the speed was fifteen (15) m.p.h. over the posted speed limit but
less than twenty (20) over the posted speed limit.
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5
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Speeding in violation of specified or established
limits where the speed was eleven (11) m.p.h. or more over the posted speed
limit but less than fifteen (15) m.p.h. over the posted speed limit.
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3
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§17C-9-1,
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Failure of driver to yield right of way
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3
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§17C-9-2,
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§17C-9-3,
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§17C-9-4,
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§17C-10-2,
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§17C-12-6,
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§17C-18-1
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§17C-9-5,
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Failure to yield to an Emergency Vehicle
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6
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§17C-18-1
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§17C-8-2,
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Improper right-hand and left-hand turns
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2
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§17C-8-3,
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§17C-8-4,
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§17C-18-1
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§17C-7-3,
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Failure of driver of overtaking vehicle to
give
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3
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§17C-18-1
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audible signal, or failure to pass to the left at a
safe distance, or driving to the right before safely clear of the overtaken
vehicle, or failure of the driver of overtaken vehicle to give way to the
right, or driver of overtaken vehicle increasing speed before being completely
passed by the overtaking vehicle
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§17C-7-5
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Passing in face of oncoming traffic
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3
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§17C-18-1
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§17C-7-7,
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Passing in no-passing zone
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3
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§17C-18-1
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§17C-12-1
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Failure to obey signal indicating approaching
train
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3
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§17C-15-1,
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Operation of vehicle without lighted lamps
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2
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§17C-15-2,
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or lights when required to be lighted
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§17C-18-1
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§17C-7-10,
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Following too closely
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2
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§17C-18-1
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§17C-14-5,
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Operation of a vehicle with more than
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2
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§17C-18-1
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three persons in the front seat
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§17C-14-2,
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Improper backing
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2
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§17C-18-1
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|
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§17C-7-8,
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Driving wrong way on one-way street,
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3
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§17C-18-1
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highway or roadway
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§17C-8-6,
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Improper turning movements, or improper
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2
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§17C-8-8,
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signals, or no signals
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§17C-8-9,
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§17C-8-10,
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§17C-18-1
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All other moving violations
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2
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§17C-14-14
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Littering
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3
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§17B
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Operating a vehicle without a proper driver's license
or Endorsement
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2
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(The above statutory references are to Chapters, Articles and
Sections of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended.)
7.3. Traffic Convictions with No Point Value.
- The abstracts of traffic convictions outlined in this subsection have no
point value in the administration of the Driver Improvement Program:
7.3.a. Convictions for operating vehicles on
the highways of this or any other state with defective or improper
equipment;
7.3.b. Convictions for
operating vehicles on the highways of this or any other state in violation of
the weight, height, length and width provisions of W. Va. Code;
7.3.c. Convictions for operating a vehicle on
the highways of this or any other state with improper registration;
7.3.d. Convictions for operating a vehicle on
the highways of this or any other state with an expired vehicle inspection
decal or certificate; and
7.3.e.
Convictions for operating a vehicle on a controlled access highway of this or
any other state at a speed often miles per hour or less above the speed limit
in accordance with the provisions of W. Va. Code §
17C-6-1(a), (i) or
(j);
7.3.f. Convictions for offenses which are
grounds for a driver's license revocation or suspension.
7.3.g. Convictions for speeding 10 mph or
less over the posted speed limit except if the driver holds a commercial
driver's license or was operating a commercial motor vehicle.
7.3.h. Speeding convictions received from
another jurisdiction without speed detail unless licensee has received a
conviction while holding a Commercial Driver's license or while operating a
Commercial Vehicle.
7.4.
Traffic Convictions. -- The Division shall note the appropriate number of
points indicated in Subsection 7.2 of this rule on the driver record of any
licensee convicted of any of the offenses listed in Subsection 7.2 in West
Virginia Circuit, Magistrate or Municipal Court. Consistent with the provisions
in W. Va. Code §
17B-3-3 the Division shall charge
any licensee of the State of West Virginia convicted in any other state,
municipality of another state or in the District of Columbia of any offense
described in Subsection 7.2 of this rule in violation of any statute or
ordinance of such other state, municipality of another state or District of
Columbia with the appropriate number of points shown in Subsection 7.2 of this
rule opposite the description of the offense. A conviction includes a finding
of guilt, a plea of guilty or a plea of nolo contendere.
7.5. Forfeiture of Bail or Deposited
Collateral. -- Consistent with the provisions of W. Va. Code §
17B-3-4 requiring that all
Circuit, Magistrate, and Municipal Courts provide the Division with certified
abstracts of judgments on convictions, for the purposes of the point system, a
forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure a licensee's appearance in
court, which has not been vacated, is equivalent to a conviction.
7.6. Points assigned for Same Occurrence. --
When a licensee is convicted of two or more offenses arising out of the same
occurrence, the Division shall assign points for only one of the offenses. When
there is a difference in the point values of the offenses, the Division shall
assign the greater point value.
7.7. Revocations. -- W. Va. Code §
17B-3-5 provides that certain
convictions shall result in an automatic revocation, as opposed to suspension,
of the driver's license of the person convicted. The Division records these
convictions on the licensee's driver record with no assignment of points. The
Division assesses points for reckless driving convictions unless three
convictions occur within a period of twenty-four months. In these cases, the
licensee is subject to the mandatory revocation in accordance with W. Va. Code
§
17B-3-5(5). When
any person is convicted in the State of West Virginia for an offense for which
no point value is assigned but for which a certified abstract of judgment on
the conviction is required and furnished to the Division under the provisions
of W. Va. Code §
17B-3-4 the Division shall note
the conviction, without point value, on the driver record of the
licensee.
7.8. Accumulation of
Twelve or More Points. -- The Division shall suspend a licensee's privilege to
operate a motor vehicle upon the accumulation of twelve or more points in
accordance with the following schedule:
7.8.a.
When a licensee accumulates twelve to thirteen points, the period of suspension
is thirty days.
7.8.b. When a
licensee accumulates fourteen to fifteen points, the period of suspension is
forty-five days.
7.8.c. When a
licensee accumulates sixteen to seventeen points, the period of suspension is
sixty days.
7.8.d. When a licensee
accumulates eighteen to nineteen points, the period of suspension is ninety
days.
7.8.e. When a licensee
accumulates twenty or more points, the period of suspension is one hundred
twenty days.
7.8.f. Any suspension
received under the provisions of subdivision 7.8.a., 7.8.b., 7.8.C., or 7.8.d
of this rule shall run consecutively and any suspension under subdivision 7.8.e
of this rule shall run concurrently.
7.8.g. In lieu of any suspension enumerated
above and any reinstatement fee due, the licensee may choose to pay a $200
penalty fee prior to the effective date of the suspension provided that the
licensee has not availed himself or herself of this alternative in the prior
two years from the date of suspension. The penalty fee shall be deposited in
the Motor Vehicle Fees Fund established pursuant to W. Va. Code §
17A-2-21.
7.9. Length of Time Points Maintained On
Driving Record. -- The Division shall remove the points assessed for a
conviction two years from the date of the conviction. However, the conviction
shall remain a part of the drivers' record.
7.10. Effective Starting Time for Period of
Suspension. -- The suspension of any driver's license under the Driver
Improvement Program is effective ten days from the mailing of the notice of
suspension.
7.11. Hearings. - The
licensee may appeal an Order of Suspension by requesting a hearing within ten
(10) days of receipt of the Order. The scope of the hearing is whether the
person whose license is suspended is the same person to whom the citations were
issued or whether the point total is correct.
7.12. Prohibition Against Masking -In
accordance with the provisions of W. Va. Code §
17E-1-13(g),
implementing the requirements of
49C.F.R. §
384.226, all citations accumulated by a
licensee who holds a commercial driver's license shall be recorded and retained
as a part of the licensee's driver record. The provisions of W. Va. Code §
17C-6-1(i) and
(j) which exempt convictions for speeding
violation ten miles per hour or less over the speed limit committed on an
interstate or other controlled access highway from being reported to the
Division do not apply to a licensee who holds a commercial driver's
license.
