{"id":135125,"date":"2026-02-16T14:16:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T14:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/135125\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T14:16:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T14:16:07","slug":"starting-today-ny-drivers-face-more-points-for-drunk-driving-other-driving-infractions-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/135125\/","title":{"rendered":"Starting today, NY drivers face more points for drunk driving, other driving infractions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Syracuse, N.Y. – Starting Monday, New York drivers will face steeper penalties for many driving infractions as the state introduces new regulations<\/a> targeting reckless drivers. <\/p>\n

Driving infractions will remain on records for a longer time, and violations which previously added no points to a driver\u2019s record will now add points, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.<\/p>\n

The most dramatic increases target alcohol- and drug-related incidents and aggravated unlicensed operation, according to the DMV website. Both jump from zero points to 11 points.<\/p>\n

Under the new guidelines, licenses will be suspended when a driver hits 10 points in 24 months, according to the DMV. An 11-point infraction will trigger an automatic suspension.<\/p>\n

Under the old guidelines, drivers had to accrue 11 points in 18 months to face suspension.<\/p>\n

Drivers\u2019 entire driving histories can also now be reviewed to determine punishments when licenses are suspended.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor reckless drivers, we\u2019re putting you on notice,\u201d State Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Mark Schroeder said at a news conference in Syracuse Thursday. \u201c(Gov. Kathy Hochul) does not want to have a system anymore that rewards dangerous behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of the other already-established point totals for speeding, reckless driving and texting while driving will keep the same values<\/a>, according to the DMV.<\/p>\n

Unlicensed drivers and people who drive under the influence could also face new, increasingly harsh punishments from the DMV, according to Scott Brenneck, a partner at Cambareri and Brenneck Law Firm.<\/p>\n

Going forward, individuals who operate a vehicle without a license or drive under the influence will undergo a review of their lifetime driving record, Brenneck said. This could result in harsher punishments for repeat offenders, he said.<\/p>\n

In addition to court-ordered penalties such as classes and fines, violators will now also receive 11 points on their license, Brenneck said. The DMV has not yet made it clear how people will be able to clear those points from their license, he said.<\/p>\n

Brenneck\u2019s greatest concern, however, is language in the new regulations that would increase any average traffic violation to 11 points if the driver\u2019s license was suspended at the time.<\/p>\n

Many people will have their insurance lapse in DMV records, causing a suspension, when they are just changing insurance, Brenneck said. A lawful citizen could be in this situation and not realize it while driving, get pulled over for running a stop sign, then suddenly face the worst possible punishment, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat should terrify the average citizen,\u201d he said. \u201cIt could affect the everyday person. That can\u2019t be what they intended, right?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Syracuse, N.Y. – Starting Monday, New York drivers will face steeper penalties for many driving infractions as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,49,51,50,57407,21244,54117],"class_list":{"0":"post-135125","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-headlines","10":"tag-new-york-news","11":"tag-new-york-state","12":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","13":"tag-new-york-state-news","14":"tag-ohio-state-highway-patrol","15":"tag-traffic-tickets","16":"tag-traffic-violations"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}