In New Jersey, one speeding ticket may seem minor, but multiple moving violations can lead to the suspension or revocation of your license. New Jersey also uses a point system that has a direct influence on the amount of your auto insurance premiums. As you can see, traffic violations are not something you want to ignore.
This week, NorthJersey.com featured an interesting Road Warrior blog post about what happens to traffic violations that are received in other states. The question was raised by a Bergen County resident who winters in Florida each year. It was there the man had received a speeding ticket from a police officer who told him not to worry, that the ticket wouldn't follow him back to his home state.
Needless to say, the man was surprised when he was notified by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission that six points were being added to his license as well as a surcharge. The man was especially shocked because in New Jersey, it only takes 12 points on your license to trigger a license suspension.
The Road Warrior columnist researched the issue and found out that what the Florida officer had told the man was not true. Traffic violations picked up in other states can and do follow you back home. In fact, many states, like New Jersey and Florida, share driving-penalty information.
But, it is also important to note that the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission only charges two points for each out-of-state traffic violation. This means that more serious four-point-violations occurring out of New Jersey only result in two points being applied to your license.
So why did the Bergen County gentleman receive six points on his license, you ask? The man had actually received two previous moving violations that also accounted for two points each. The first had been in Florida in 2008 and the second was from Virginia in 2009. This brings up another important point: you might not actually find out about out-of-state moving violations affecting your license until long after you were cited.
Source: NorthJersey.com, "Have moving violations, will travel," John Cickowski, 6/17/2011.