W. Va. Code R. § 91-5-7

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 49, December 6, 2024

Section 91-5-7 - The Point System

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.

Statute Violated	General Description of Offenses	Point Value
§17C-5-3,	Reckless Driving	6
§17C-18-1
§17C-4-2,	Hit and run involving property damage	6
§17C-4-3,
§17C-4-4,
§17C-4-5,
§17C-4-6
§17C-18-1
§17C-6-1	Speeding in school zone	6
§ 61-5-17	Fleeing from an officer in a vehicle	8
§17C-3-4,	Failure to obey stop signs and other traffic signs and	3
§17C-12-5,	control devices, except failure to obey traffic control signals
§17C-18-1
§17C-3-5,	Failure to obey traffic control signals or	3
§17C-3-7,	traffic light signals
§17C-18-1
§17C-7-2,	Driving to left side of roadway	3
§17C-7-6,
§17C-18-1
§17C-6-1,	Driving too fast for conditions, failure to keep	3
§17C-18-1	vehicle under control or hazardous driving
§17C-6-1,	Speeding in violation of specified or established	6
§17C-6-4,	limits where the speed was twenty (20) m.p.h.
§17C-18-1	or more over the posted speed limit.
	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.	5
	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.	3
§17C-9-1,	Failure of driver to yield right of way	3
§17C-9-2,
§17C-9-3,
§17C-9-4,
§17C-10-2,
§17C-12-6,
§17C-18-1
§17C-9-5,	Failure to yield to an Emergency Vehicle	6
§17C-18-1
§17C-8-2,	Improper right-hand and left-hand turns	2
§17C-8-3,
§17C-8-4,
§17C-18-1
§17C-7-3,	Failure of driver of overtaking vehicle to give	3
§17C-18-1	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
§17C-7-5	Passing in face of oncoming traffic	3
§17C-18-1
§17C-7-7,	Passing in no-passing zone	3
§17C-18-1
§17C-12-1	Failure to obey signal indicating approaching train	3
§17C-15-1,	Operation of vehicle without lighted lamps	2
§17C-15-2,	or lights when required to be lighted
§17C-18-1
§17C-7-10,	Following too closely	2
§17C-18-1
§17C-14-5,	Operation of a vehicle with more than	2
§17C-18-1	three persons in the front seat
§17C-14-2,	Improper backing	2
§17C-18-1
§17C-7-8,	Driving wrong way on one-way street,	3
§17C-18-1	highway or roadway
§17C-8-6,	Improper turning movements, or improper	2
§17C-8-8,	signals, or no signals
§17C-8-9,
§17C-8-10,
§17C-18-1
	All other moving violations	2
§17C-14-14	Littering	3
§17B	Operating a vehicle without a proper driver's license or Endorsement	2

(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.

W. Va. Code R. § 91-5-7