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How To Get Speeding Tickets Removed From Your Driving Record

driving record

To get speeding tickets removed from your driving record, you can submit a request to the Missouri Department of Revenue to purge all tickets that are 3 years old or older.

How To Get Old Speeding Tickets Removed From Your Driving Record

When you plead guilty to a speeding ticket, points are added to your driving record.

  • If you accumulate 8 points within 18 months, the state of Missouri will suspend your driver’s license for 30 days (if it’s your first suspension)
  • If you accumulate 12 points within 12 months, the state of Missouri will revoke your driver’s license for 1 year
  • If you continue to drive on a suspended or revoked license, you risk getting a 12-point ticket for Driving While Suspended

Speeding tickets stay on your driving record for 3 years. The points count toward a suspension for 18 months.

To get old speeding tickets removed from your driving record, contact the Missouri Department of Revenue (DOR) in Jefferson City, Missouri and ask them to review your driving record and purge any tickets that are 3 years old or older.

Here are some options for how to contact the DOR to get old speeding tickets removed from your driving record

  • Email your request to [email protected]
  • Call the DOR at (573) 526-2407 and ask them to remove all old tickets
  • Mail a written request to:

Missouri Department of Revenue
301 West High Street – Room 470
PO Box 200
Jefferson City, MO, 65105-0200

Some Types Of Tickets Stay On Your Driving Record Forever

Traffic tickets that support an administrative suspension, revocation, or denial of driving privileges can NOT be removed from your driving record.

Other types of tickets that stay on your driving record forever include:

  • No Insurance
  • DWI
  • DUID
  • Excessive BAC
  • No Driver’s License (state, not municipal)
  • Vehicular Manslaughter
  • Driving While Suspended or Revoked
  • Leaving the Scene of An Accident (state, not municipal)
  • Felonies

In addition, tickets that led to a suspension or revocation of your driver’s license must remain on your Missouri driving record until 5 years after you get your license reinstated.

An Attorney Can Help Keep Points Off Your Driving Record

If you have a current speeding ticket that you want to get “fixed” (reduced to a non-moving, no-point violation), you will have to hire a traffic law attorney to represent you. An experienced speeding ticket lawyer can get your ticket amended to “Illegal Parking” or some similar non-moving, no-point violation.

You will have to pay a fine and court costs to get your ticket reduced to a non-moving violation. The fine will be slightly higher than the original fine you would have paid if you had pleaded guilty and accepted the points on your driving record.

The court will give you at least 30 days to pay the fine and court costs, and you won’t have to appear in court if it’s just a standard speeding ticket.

Why Should You Hire A Lawyer To Fight Your Speeding Ticket?

If you hire an attorney to get your speeding ticket reduced to a non-moving violation, no points will be added to your driving record and your insurance company will never know that you received the ticket, so they will have no reason to increase your rates.

Some people choose to plead guilty to a speeding ticket because they have a clean driving record and are not in danger of having their license suspended for accumulating too many points.

If you are having a hard time deciding whether to fight your speeding ticket or plead guilty, you can call your insurance agent to ask if your insurance rates will increase if you plead guilty to a speeding ticket. You can also call a traffic ticket lawyer to ask for an estimate of their fee and the amount of the fine and court costs.

How Much Does It Cost To Get A Speeding Ticket Reduced To A Non-Moving Violation?

It is cheaper to plead guilty to a speeding ticket than to hire an attorney and pay the higher fine to get your ticket reduced to a non-moving violation.

However, the long-term cost of pleading guilty may be much higher if your insurance company increases your car insurance rates because you pleaded guilty to a speeding ticket.

An experienced traffic ticket lawyer can give you a flat-fee price quote over the phone and an estimate of the fine and court costs you will have to pay.
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For a free consultation about your Missouri speeding ticket, contact St. Louis traffic law attorney Andrea Storey Rogers at (314) 724-5059 or [email protected]

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Fight Your Speeding Ticket or Plead Guilty?

Illinois Driving Record

When deciding whether to fight your speeding ticket or plead guilty, consider how many points you have accumulated on your driving record and whether you can afford an increase in your car insurance rates.

What Are Your Options When You Get A Speeding Ticket in Missouri?

When you get a speeding ticket in Missouri, you can choose from the following options:

  • Plead guilty by paying the fine
  • Plead not guilty and go to trial
  • Hire an attorney to fight your speeding ticket

Pleading guilty to the original speeding ticket will cause points to be added to your driving record and your car insurance rates may increase as a result of having a speeding conviction on your driving record. You also might have to go to court if your ticket requires a mandatory court appearance.

Taking your case to trial is much more expensive than hiring a traffic law attorney to get your ticket reduced to a non-moving, no-point infraction. You also risk losing and ending up with a conviction.

Hiring a traffic law attorney to fight your speeding ticket is the option many people choose because:

  • Most traffic ticket lawyers charge a reasonable flat-fee price to get your ticket reduced to a non-moving violation
  • You won’t have to appear in court
  • There will be no points added to your driving record
  • Your car insurance company will never know you received the speeding ticket, so they will have no cause to increase your insurance rates

How To Fight Your Speeding Ticket In Court And Avoid Points On Your Driving Record

An experienced traffic law attorney can fight your speeding ticket in court and keep points off your driving record. Your attorney will negotiate a plea bargain deal with the Prosecutor to get your speeding ticket or other traffic violation reduced to a non-moving, no-point violation that won’t cause points to be added to your driving record or an increase in your car insurance rates.

Usually a standard speeding ticket can be reduced to “Illegal Parking” or a similar non-moving, no-point infraction. You will have to pay a fine and court costs in exchange for the court agreeing to reduce your ticket, and the fine will be higher than the original fine. Your attorney can give you an estimate of the amount of the fine and court costs.

Once the court receives your payment, they will reduce your speeding ticket to a non-moving, no-point violation and there will be no negative effect on your driving record or car insurance rates.

How Many Points Can You Accumulate Before Your License Gets Suspended?

If you accumulate 8 points on your driving record within 18 months, your Missouri driver’s license will be suspended for 30 days (if it’s your first suspension).

Your license will be revoked for 1 year if you accumulate 12 points within 12 months.

Pleading guilty to a speeding ticket issued by a municipal police officer will cause 2 points to be added to your driving record.

Pleading guilty to a speeding ticket issued by a Missouri State Highway Patrol officer will cause 3 points to be added to your driving record.

Other types of traffic violations also cause points to be added to your driving record, such as:

  • Careless & Imprudent Driving = 2 to 4 points
  • DWI = 8 to 12 points
  • Driving While Suspended = 12 points
  • Leaving The Scene of an Accident = 6 to 12 points
  • Driving Without Insurance = 4 points
  • Stop Sign Violation = 1 to 2 points

You Can Attend Traffic School To Remove Points From Your Driving Record

Some people remove points from their driving record by taking the Missouri Driver Improvement Program (DIP) class. The DIP class is an 8-hour in-person traffic school program.

The DIP class may be an option if you received a speeding ticket in a county where the court does not allow speeding tickets to be reduced to non-moving violations.

If you want to take the DIP class, here are some tips:

  • You are not eligible to take the DIP class if you have taken it within the past 3 years
  • You are not eligible to take the DIP class if you have a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) or if you were driving a commercial motor vehicle when you got the ticket
  • You must obtain the judge’s permission to take the DIP class, or else the DOR will not accept proof of completion
  • If your ticket is for an excessively high speed, the judge may refuse to allow you to take the DIP class
  • Most courts require the defendant (or their attorney) to appear in person to ask the judge for permission to take the DIP class
  • You must complete the DIP class within 60 days after pleading guilty and paying the fine for your ticket
  • If you complete the Missouri DIP class, points will be removed from your driving record but the speeding conviction will remain on your driving record, which may cause your insurance rates to increase

You May Be Able To Change Your Mind After Paying The Fine For A Speeding Ticket

Many people pay the fine for a speeding ticket and then change their mind after seeing how many points have accumulated on their driving record, or how high their car insurance is going to increase. Or they may need to withdraw their plea on a speeding ticket to lift the suspension of their driver’s license.

An experienced traffic law attorney can withdraw your plea and get your ticket reduced to a non-moving, no-point violation.

Withdrawing your guilty plea is easier to do if:

  • You did not have an attorney representing you when you pleaded guilty,
  • A relatively short amount of times has passed since you pleaded guilty, and
  • Your ticket is for an offense that the Prosecutor is willing to reduce to a no-point violation

Consult an experienced traffic ticket lawyer to get a price quote for how much it will cost to withdraw your plea and get your ticket reduced to a non-moving, no-point violation.

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To get your Missouri speeding ticket reduced to a non-moving, no-point violation, contact traffic law attorney Andrea Storey Rogers at (314) 724-5059 or [email protected] for a flat-fee price quote and an estimate of your fine and court costs.

 

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Keep Speeding Ticket Points Off Your Driving Record

speeding ticket points

Keep speeding ticket points off your driving record by hiring a traffic law attorney to get your ticket reduced to a non-moving, no-point infraction.

If you plead guilty to a moving violation, such as speeding or running a red light, points will be added to your driving record, and your car insurance rates might increase.

An experienced traffic law attorney can get your speeding ticket reduced to a non-moving, no-point infraction such as “Illegal Parking,” so no points will be added to your driving record and your insurance company will never know you got the ticket.

In exchange for reducing your ticket to a non-moving violation, the court will require you to pay a slightly higher fine plus court costs. You won’t have to appear in court, and the court will give you at least 30 days to pay.

How Many Points Before Your License Gets Suspended?

There is a limit to how many speeding ticket points you can get before Missouri suspends your driver’s license.

Missouri will suspend your driver’s license for 30 days if you accumulate:

  • 8 points within 18 months (if it’s a first-time suspension)

Missouri will revoke your driver’s license for 1 year if you accumulate:

  • 12 points within 12 months
  • 18 points within 24 months
  • 24 points within 36 months

How Many Points Will Be Added To Your Driving Record For Traffic Violations

Speeding ticket are moving violations that cause points to be added to your driving record.

Some traffic violations are non-moving, no-point violations, such as “Failure to Register a Vehicle,” “Seat Belt Violation,” or “Expired Plates.”

Other traffic violations, such as “No Insurance,” cause points to be added to your driving record even though they seem to be a non-moving violation.

Here is a list of common Missouri traffic violations and the number of points assessed for each:

  • Speeding ticket (city violation) = 2 points
  • Speeding ticket (state violation) = 3 points
  • Stop Sign Violation = 2 points
  • Driving Without a License = 2 points (first offense)
  • Driving While Suspended or Revoked = 12 points
  • Driving With No Insurance = 4 points
  • Driving While Intoxicated = 8 points (first offense)
  • Careless & Imprudent Driving = 2 to 4 points
  • Reckless Driving = 2 to 4 points
  • Leaving the Scene of an Accident = 6 to 12 points (12 points if state violation; 6 points if county or municipal violation)
  • Permitting an Unlicensed Driver to Drive = 4 points

How To Remove Points From Your Driving Record

You can remove speeding ticket points from your driving record by doing one of the following:

  • If you have not already pleaded guilty, hire a traffic law attorney to get your ticket reduced from a moving violation to a non-moving, no-point violation that won’t affect your driving record or insurance rates.
  • If you have already pleaded guilty, you can hire a traffic ticket lawyer to withdraw your guilty plea and get your old speeding ticket reduced to a non-moving violation.
  • Attend traffic school to remove the speeding ticket points from your driving record. This is the only option in counties in which the Prosecutor refuses to reduce your ticket to a non-moving, no-point violation.

How To Get Old Tickets Removed From Your Driving Record

You can request that old tickets be removed from your driving record by contacting the Missouri Department of Revenue (Driver’s License Bureau) in Jefferson City, Missouri. Ask them to review your driving record and purge any tickets that are 3 years old or older.

Here’s how to request the removal of an old traffic ticket:

  • Send an e-mail request to [email protected]
  • Call (573) 526-2407 to request that all old tickets be removed
  • Send a written request to:

Missouri Department of Revenue
301 West High Street – Room 470
PO Box 200
Jefferson City, MO, 65105-0200

PLEASE NOTE:  A ticket can not be removed if it supports an administrative suspension, revocation, or denial of driving privileges, or if it is required by state law to stay on your driving record for some other reason. For example, tickets for “No Insurance” or “Failure to Maintain Insurance” remain on your driving record forever and can not be removed.

Tickets that led to a suspension or revocation of your driver’s license must remain on your Missouri driving record until 5 years have passed after your license reinstatement date.

Hire a Traffic Ticket Lawyer to Avoid Speeding Ticket Points

An experienced traffic law attorney can get your speeding ticket or other traffic violation reduced to a non-moving, no-point violation that won’t add points to your driving record and won’t cause your car insurance rates to increase.

In most cases, your attorney will take care of everything over the phone or by email and you won’t have to appear in court. Most traffic ticket lawyers offer a free consultation, flat-fee pricing, and an estimate of the outcome of your case.

If you need help with your Missouri speeding ticket, contact St. Louis Speeding Ticket lawyer Andrea Storey Rogers at (314) 724-5059 or [email protected] for a free consultation.

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Missouri Traffic Ticket Fines, Points, and Penalties

Looking for information about Missouri fines, points, and penalties for traffic violations?

Click here for a list of fines, points, and penalties for Missouri traffic violations.

The link above will take you to the Missouri “Traffic Bench Guide,” which is used by Missouri judges, prosecutors, and attorneys. You can look up any Missouri traffic violation by its charge code or description to see if it is an infraction, misdemeanor or felony, and the penalties for each.

You can also use this guide to check whether or not a conviction for a particular traffic violation (speeding, running a stop sign, failure to register vehicle, no proof of insurance, seat belt violation, DWI, MIP, etc.) is a moving violation that will be reported to the Missouri Department of Revenue, and how many points will be added to your driving record.

The Traffic Bench Guide can help you determine whether to plead guilty and pay the fine for your ticket, or hire an attorney to get the ticket “fixed” (negotiate a plea bargain with the prosecutor to reduce the charge to a lesser offense) and keep the  points off your driving record.

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Speeding Ticket Points Stay on Your Missouri Driving Record for Only 18 Months

Missouri speeding ticket points become inactive after 18 months, and at that point they no longer count toward a suspension of your driver’s license. The 18-month time period starts on the date of the conviction.

The Actual Traffic Ticket Stays on Your Missouri Driving Record for 3 Years

Although the points on your Missouri driving record become inactive after 18 months, the actual traffic ticket stays on your driving record for 3 years or longer, depending on the type of violation.

Some Traffic Tickets Stay on Your Missouri Driving Record for 5 Years

If you are convicted of a traffic violation that leads to a suspension or revocation of your driver’s license, then that speeding ticket or other traffic violation will stay on your Missouri driving record for 5 years, starting from the date of reinstatement of your driver’s license after the suspension or revocation period ends.

What Types of Traffic Tickets Stay on Your Driving Record Permanently?

Convictions for DWI, Excessive BAC (blood alcohol content), DUID (Driving While Under the Influence of Drugs), “no insurance,” “no driver’s license” (state, not municipal), vehicular manslaughter, driving while suspended or revoked, leaving the scene of an accident (state, not municipal), any felony, and any drug- or alcohol-related driving offense or enforcement contact will stay on your Missouri driving record permanently.

Some Traffic Tickets are Automatically Removed from Your Driving Record 

Once a year, the Missouri Department of Revenue does a system-wide sweep to remove certain types of tickets from motorists’ driving records. A ticket is eligible to be removed if it was issued for a minor offense, it is more than 3 years old, and it did not cause a suspension or revocation of your driver’s license.

Tickets that qualify as a “minor offense” include convictions for speeding, stop sign violations, failure to signal, failure to yield, and “careless & imprudent driving.” These types of tickets will be removed from driving records during the Missouri Department of Revenue’s annual “purge” of old tickets from its driving record files.

You Can Ask the Missouri Department of Revenue to Remove Old Traffic Tickets from Your Driving Record

The Missouri Department of Revenue’s annual housecleaning of its files does not catch all tickets that are eligible for removal. Some old tickets could be removed but are overlooked during the annual purging of the files and end up staying on your record longer than necessary. Keep track of how many tickets are on your record and how old they are, then call the Department of Revenue to ask that they delete all old tickets that are eligible for removal. The removal of old speeding tickets from a driving record is sometimes called “expungement.”

How to Know if Your Old Speeding Tickets or Other Traffic Tickets Are Eligible to be Removed from Your Missouri Driving Record

If you have a conviction on your Missouri driving record for a traffic ticket that occurred more than 3 years ago, it did not cause a suspension or revocation of your driver’s license, and it is not a type of ticket that is required to stay on your driving record permanently (DWI, no insurance, etc.), then you can call the Missouri Department of Revenue at (573) 751-4475 and request that they remove that ticket from your driving record. If the old ticket meets those requirements, the Missouri Department of Revenue is required to remove it upon your request.

Additional rules apply to convictions for traffic violations involving CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) or CMV (Commercial Motor Vehicle).

Why You Should Have Old Tickets Removed from Your Driving Record

Insurance agents routinely review your driving record before quoting a price for car insurance. Removing old traffic tickets from your driving record will prevent an insurance agent from seeing anything except current tickets for moving violation convictions or old tickets that are not eligible for removal.

What Are Points on Your Driving Record?

When you receive a speeding ticket and are convicted of a moving violation in Missouri, in addition to paying a fine, points are added to your driving record. If you accumulate too many points, the state will suspend or revoke your driver’s license. The number of points vary depending on the type of offense. For example, a speeding ticket issued by a city or county police officer will cause 2 points to be added to your driving record. If a state police officer issued the speeding ticket, then 3 points are added to your record. A conviction for driving without insurance will cause 4 points to be added to your driving record. And driving while suspended or revoked means 12 points will be added to your driving record.

How Many Points are Added to Your Missouri Driving Record for Each Traffic Violation?

Click here to find out how many points are added to your driving record for traffic violations in Missouri.

Here is a list of some common traffic violations and the number of points that are added to your driving record for each:

Speeding ticket issued by state police officer – 3 points
Speeding ticket issued by county or municipal police officer – 2 points
DWI (1st time) – 8 points
Driving While Suspended – 12 points
Failure to Produce Insurance I.D. – 4 points
No Driver’s License (1st time) – 2 points
Failure to Yield Right-of-Way – 2 points

How Many Points Can You Accumulate Before Your Driver’s License is Suspended?

If you accumulate 8 points within 18 months, the Missouri Department of Revenue will suspend your driver’s license for 30 days. If you are suspended a second time because of points, then your license will be suspended for 60 days; and if it’s your third or more suspension, then your license will be suspended for 90 days.

How Many Points Can You Have on Your Driving Record Before Your Driver’s License is Revoked?

Your Missouri driver’s license will be revoked for 1 year if you accumulate 12 points within 12 months, 18 points within 24 months, or 24 points within 36 months.

How to Find Out How Many Points Are on Your Driving Record

To find out the number of points on your driving record, call the Missouri Department of Revenue at (573) 526-2407 ext. 2. If you recently received a traffic ticket but have not paid the fine yet, those points will not show up on your driving record until after the fine is paid and the conviction is recorded.

Keep Track of the Amount of Points on Your Driving Record

Many people hire an attorney to have their speeding tickets “fixed” (meaning, the attorney negotiates a plea bargain with the prosecutor to have your ticket amended to a non-moving, no-point infraction).

However, some people choose instead to simply pay the fine for their speeding ticket, knowing that points will be added to their driving record. If you choose this option, just be sure to keep track of how many points you have on your driving record. Many drivers get pulled over by police for a routine traffic stop only to be surprised when the officer tells them that their license is suspended because they accumulated too many points.

An Attorney Can Help if Your Driver’s License is Suspended

If your driver’s license is suspended because you failed to pay fines for speeding tickets or other traffic violations, then you can hire an attorney to negotiate a plea bargain with the court to have your tickets amended to non-moving violations, which will reduce the amount of points on your driving record, and the suspension will be canceled.

To learn more about points and suspension or revocation of your Missouri driver’s license, go to my Driving While Revoked/Driving While Suspended page.

Your Attorney May be Able to Help You Withdraw Your Guilty Plea

If you have already pled guilty and paid your fines for a speeding ticket or other traffic violation, then, in some situations, it is possible for an attorney to file a motion to withdraw your guilty plea and negotiate a plea bargain with the court to have those tickets amended to non-moving violations with no points. However, if too much time has passed since your guilty plea, the court may not allow the withdrawal.

For more information, go to the Withdrawal of Guilty Plea page on my website.

To learn more about Missouri traffic law, go to my Traffic Law Resources page for links to information regarding Missouri speeding tickets, points, Missouri driver’s licenses, courts, and other traffic-related issues.