If you are a New Hampshire driver and you recently received a New York traffic ticket, you came to the right place. Both New York and New Hampshire are members of the Driver’s License Compact. This means NY and NH freely share driver information with one another. Consequently, if you receive a NY traffic ticket but are a NH driver, NH will be notified about the ticket you received.
Potential Consequences
Make no mistake: if you are a New Hampshire driver and you decide to plead guilty to a NY traffic ticket, there are tons of negative consequences you will suffer. The following information is designed to help you better understand the penalties associated with receiving a NY traffic ticket on a New Hampshire driver’s license.
Driver's License Points
Most drivers think that points will not follow them home. This is entirely false if you have a New Hampshire driver’s license. In reality, if you are a New Hampshire driver and get a traffic ticket in New York (or any other state), points will be assessed against your NH driver’s license. In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information, our law firm personally contacted the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicle and they said that points do transfer between New Hampshire and other states. Every time you plead guilty to or are convicted of an out-of-state traffic offense, it will be recorded on your NH driving record. Once the violation is recorded, NH will compare the offense you committed in New York to the equivalent offense in NH. You will then be assessed the amount of points that the violation would have been worth had you committed it at home. For instance, if you get pulled over for driving 31 miles per hour over the speed limit in New York, that is an 8 point offense. However, in New Hampshire it is only a 4 point violation. Therefore, 4 points (not 8) will be placed on your NH driving record if you plead guilty or are convicted.
Increased Auto Insurance Rates
New Hampshire drivers, be careful! Not only does your state share and receive driving data from other states, it also records each and every out-of-state traffic conviction you receive on your driving record (including if you plead guilty through the mail). Remember, your insurance carrier has access to your driving record and will regularly check it and update your rate. Once your insurance carrier notices the out-of-state traffic conviction on your New Hampshire driving record, your auto insurance will most likely skyrocket!
Fines & Surcharges
Although you are licensed in New Hampshire, the fine you will pay goes to the State of New York and it will be the New York amount (i.e. not what NH would have fined you were you ticketed at home).Furthermore, New York police do not look very favorably on out-of-state drivers that commit violations in their state. It is quite common for them to issue you a ticket for the maximum fine because they fully expect you to not contest it.As a result, when you plead guilty or are convicted of a NY traffic violation as an out-of-state driver, you will face a steep fine and surcharge.
Driver Responsibility Assessment
If you plead guilty to a New York traffic ticket worth 6 points under NY’s point system or are convicted of an offense or set of offenses that amount to 6 or more points in NY, you will be required to pay a Driver Responsibility Assessment (DRA).If you get 6 points in 18 months, the assessment will be $100 per year for 3 years. If you get more than 6 points in 18 months, an additional $25 per year will be charged for each additional point you receive. This means 1 extra point will cost you $75 more (since the assessment lasts for 3 years).Also, getting convicted of a drug- or alcohol-related offense or refusing to submit to a chemical test will result in a $250 assessment per year for 3 years.Remember, the Driver Responsibility Assessment (DRA) applies whether you are an out-of-state driver or licensed in New York.
Suspension of NY Driving Privileges
If you are a New Hampshire driver and accrue 11 points or more in New York, you will lose your New York driving privileges. This accumulation of 11 points is based on the NY point system, not New Hampshire’s.You may think 11 points is a lot and that you could never get so many during a short trip to New York. However, you would be surprised at how fast and how quickly points add up. Cell phone tickets, text message tickets, and failing to stop for a school bus are all 5 point tickets. Similarly, driving 21 mph over the speed limit is a 6 point ticket. These high point values—coupled with NY’s heightened police enforcement of out-of-state drivers—make that 11 point threshold rather easy to get to, even on a relatively short vacation.Moreover according to the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicle, “New Hampshire will suspend the license/operating privileges of an individual whose license/operating privileges have been suspended by another state.”This means New Hampshire will suspend your driver’s license for any offense you commit that warrants a suspension in New York.Aside from incurring 11 points, some of the NY offenses that will cause your New Hampshire license to be suspended include:
- Abandoning you car on a public highway
- Being found at fault in a fatal car accident
- Driving without insurance
- DWI/DUI
- Racing
- Speeding 3 times in 18 months (regardless of the speed)
As you can see, you are facing a great deal when you are handed an out-of-state traffic ticket. Although it might be tempting to simply plead guilty and pay the fine, doing so will not make these negative consequences go away. In fact, the conviction is the very thing that brings most of them on.The best way to successfully avoid the negative consequences of an out-of-state traffic ticket is to hire an experienced traffic ticket attorney to fight the ticket for you.
Although it might be tempting to simply plead guilty and pay the fine, doing so will not make these negative consequences go away. In fact, the conviction is the very thing that brings most of them on.
Who Should You Contact?
If you recently received a New York traffic ticket, contact Rosenblum Law today at 888-883-5529.
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