First speeding ticket: what to check, in order
The citation in your hand answers most of the questions. Read it first, then find the deadline, the points the ticket carries and what your state's course can do, before any date on it passes.
Day 0The date on the ticket starts every count
Rules checked . Updated .
Read the citation
Four things printed on the ticket decide what comes next.
- The date it was written. Several course deadlines count from it.
- The violation and the speed. Speed limits for a course and point bands work in mph over the limit: the speed on the ticket minus the posted limit.
- The court. In 19 of the 51 state rules the court sets part of the rule, such as its fee, its deadline or whether it offers a course at all.
- The date to answer or appear. Some tickets need a court appearance. Florida, for one, requires a hearing for 30 mph or more over the limit.
Find the deadline
- Day 0: the ticket is writtenThe date on the citation starts most counts.
- The deadline to ask21 days in Utah, 30 in Florida, by the answer date in Texas.
- Finish the courseBy the date your court, clerk or DMV sets.
- Your recordDismissed, points kept off, or points taken off.
Where a rule counts days from the date on the ticket, the checker prints the last day to ask: Utah 21 days, Florida 30 days, Washington 30 days and Washington, DC 60 days; Washington's 30 days are the window to ask for a hearing. Texas takes the request by the answer date on the citation. Arizona wants the class finished at least 7 days before the court date. In Michigan the clock starts with a letter from the Department of State, and you then have 60 days. All checked October 2026.
Check the points it carries
40 of the 51 state point tables use points (checked October 2026). The others keep no point record, and several count convictions or offenses instead. For speeding, the points depend on how far over the limit you were. Here is a ticket for 15 mph over in seven states, as the checker reads their tables, with the point totals at which each state acts.
| State | Points at 15 mph over | When the state acts |
|---|---|---|
| California | 1 | 4 points in 12 months, 6 points in 24 months, 8 points in 36 months |
| Florida | 3 | 12 points within a 12-month period (up to 30 days); 18 points within an 18-month period (up to 3 months); 24 points within a 36-month period (up to 1 year) |
| Georgia | 2 | 15 points in a 24-month period |
| New York | 4 | 11 points in 24 months: your driver license may be suspended |
| Ohio | 2 | 12 or more points within a two-year period: class D suspension (warning letter at 6 points) |
| Virginia | 4 | DMV directs a driver 18 or older to a driver improvement clinic at 12 demerit points in 12 months or 18 in 24 months |
| Texas | No point system; the state counts convictions | four or more convictions that arise out of different transactions in 12 consecutive months, or seven or more convictions that arise out of different transactions in 24 months (moving violations, habitual violator) |
Each state page lists every speed band and how long the points count. The speeding page shows all 51 side by side.
Some small tickets stay off the record
- Kansas does not report small speeding tickets: up to 10 mph over on limits of 55 to 75 mph, and up to 6 over on limits of 30 to 54 mph.
- Montana law keeps a daytime ticket of 10 mph or less over (5 at night) on most limits off your driving record, unless you hold a CDL or were going over 90 mph.
- South Dakota keeps a speeding conviction of 10 mph or less over the limit off your driving record, except in a commercial vehicle.
All three checked October 2026. None of them runs a course program for tickets.
A clean record opens some programs
- Rhode Island dismisses a ticket on a good driving record, with no course, for a driver licensed for more than three years whose ticket is the first in three years. You ask the court in person and pay a $35 fee plus a $25 surcharge.
- Mississippi opens its course to an adult with a Mississippi license or permit and no traffic conviction in the past 3 years.
- Michigan offers its course only to a driver with no more than 2 points at the time of the ticket, and you can pass it once in your life.
- Utah leaves out of Deferred Traffic Prosecution anyone with a traffic conviction in the 24 months before applying.
- Vermont has no course, but a judge or hearing officer may waive the points of a moving violation of 3 points or less when you had no points in the past 5 years and nobody was hurt.
Know the routes before the date
Paying, contesting and a course each lead to a different record. The contest or course guide sets out where each route leads under the published rules, and the insurance guide what your insurer may see afterward.