When Points Fall Off Your Record in Georgia: 24-Month Decay

Points start their 24-month decay clock on the date you committed the violation, not the date you paid the ticket or appeared in court. A speeding ticket from March 15, 2023 falls off your Georgia driving record on March 15, 2025, even if you didn't resolve the ticket until May 2023. This matters because insurance carriers pull your motor vehicle report on a rolling basis at renewal. If your renewal falls in April 2025 and your March 2023 ticket just aged off, the carrier's MVR pull will show a clean two-year lookback. You don't need to wait for a conviction anniversary or payment date. Georgia assigns 2 points for speeding 15-18 mph over the limit, 3 points for 19-23 mph over, and 4 points for 24-33 mph over. All of these decay on the same 24-month schedule from violation date. The point value determines your suspension risk during those 24 months, but it doesn't change when the points expire.

Most carriers in Georgia apply rate surcharges for moving violations on a 36-month lookback period measured from the violation date. Your points fall off the state record at 24 months, but the carrier continues charging the violation premium until month 36 unless you force a re-rating. A driver with a March 2023 speeding ticket pays the surcharge through March 2026 on most carriers' standard schedules. The DMV record clears in March 2025. That 12-month gap costs between $180 and $420 for a typical 2-point violation surcharge, depending on your base rate and the carrier's tier multiplier. Carriers don't automatically drop the surcharge when points fall off the state record. You must request a re-rate at your next renewal after the 24-month mark, and some carriers require you to order your own MVR from the Georgia Department of Driver Services to prove the record is clean. The MVR costs $8 and processes online in 48 hours.

Georgia suspends your license when you accumulate 15 points in any 24-month period. The 24-month window is a rolling lookback, not a calendar reset. Points drop off individually as each violation reaches its 24-month anniversary, which means your running total can fluctuate month to month. A driver who receives a 4-point speeding ticket in January 2023, a 3-point improper lane change in June 2023, and a 2-point following-too-closely citation in October 2023 carries 9 points total. The 4-point ticket falls off in January 2025, dropping the total to 5 points. The 3-point violation falls off in June 2025, leaving only the 2-point citation until October 2025. If you hit 15 points, Georgia suspends your license and requires a $210 reinstatement fee plus proof of insurance to restore driving privileges. There is no hardship license available during a points suspension in Georgia. You stop driving until you complete the suspension period and pay the fee.

Georgia allows drivers to complete a state-approved defensive driving course to remove up to 7 points from their record, but you can only use this option once in any five-year period. The course must be completed before you reach 15 points. Once suspended, the course won't reverse the suspension or reduce the reinstatement requirements. The DDS-approved course costs between $25 and $80 depending on the provider and takes 6 hours to complete. You can take it online or in person. Points are removed within 10 business days of the DDS receiving your certificate of completion from the course provider. The 7-point reduction does not restart the 24-month decay clock on your remaining violations — those still expire on their original violation-date schedule. Insurance carriers treat defensive driving courses inconsistently. Some offer a separate 5-10% discount for course completion that stacks on top of the point removal benefit. Others only recognize the DMV point reduction and re-rate you at renewal based on the updated MVR. If you're at 8-12 points and facing a near-term suspension risk, the course delivers immediate value by creating buffer room. If you're at 2-4 points with no suspension risk, the primary benefit is triggering an earlier insurance re-rate by clearing the violation from your record ahead of the natural 24-month expiration.

Georgia assigns points to most moving violations: 2 points for minor speeding and failure to obey traffic signals, 3 points for improper passing and following too closely, 4 points for speeding 19-33 mph over and reckless driving, and 6 points for aggressive driving or hit-and-run with property damage. All of these decay at 24 months and count toward the 15-point suspension threshold. Certain violations bypass the point system entirely and trigger immediate license suspension: DUI, leaving the scene of an accident with injury, vehicular homicide, or any felony involving a motor vehicle. These suspensions carry separate reinstatement processes that include SR-22 filing requirements and extended compliance monitoring periods. A standard 2-point or 4-point speeding ticket does not require SR-22 in Georgia unless it triggers a points-based suspension and you need to reinstate. At-fault accidents do not add points to your Georgia driving record unless they involve a cited moving violation. An at-fault accident with no ticket appears on your insurance claim history but not your MVR point total. Carriers surcharge the claim on a separate schedule, typically 36-60 months depending on claim severity and your policy tier.

Carriers re-rate your policy at renewal based on the MVR they pull 30-45 days before your renewal date. If your violation aged off the record before that MVR pull, the carrier sees a clean lookback and removes the surcharge automatically. If the violation is still visible at the time of the pull, the surcharge persists even if the points will expire before the end of the new policy term. You can force an early re-rate by requesting a policy review immediately after the 24-month mark. Call your agent or carrier, confirm the violation date has passed 24 months, and ask them to order a new MVR. Some carriers process this at no cost as part of standard underwriting review. Others require you to pay for the MVR yourself and submit it with your re-rate request. The $8 Georgia MVR fee is worth paying if it removes a $15-30 monthly surcharge 12 months early. If you're shopping for a new policy after points have fallen off, confirm the violation no longer appears on your record before you start quoting. Carriers that specialize in non-standard or assigned-risk policies often don't re-tier drivers who have cleaned up their record. Moving to a preferred or standard carrier after your 24-month mark can save 20-40% compared to staying with a high-risk carrier that rated you at your worst point total.

Each violation operates on its own 24-month clock. A second ticket doesn't reset the timer on the first. If you received a 3-point ticket in April 2023 and a 4-point ticket in November 2023, you carry 7 points total from November 2023 through April 2025. In April 2025 the first ticket expires and your total drops to 4 points. In November 2025 the second ticket expires and you return to zero. Insurance carriers treat multiple violations more severely than the point total alone would suggest. Two tickets in 24 months typically moves you from a preferred rate class to standard or non-standard, which triggers a base rate increase on top of the per-violation surcharges. A driver with one 3-point ticket might see a 20% increase. A driver with two 3-point tickets in the same period might see a 45-60% increase because they've been re-tiered into a higher-risk underwriting class. The re-tiering penalty persists until you maintain a clean record for 36 consecutive months from the date of your most recent violation. Dropping below the point threshold for suspension doesn't automatically restore your original rate tier. Carriers evaluate frequency and recency when assigning underwriting classes, and two violations in 18 months signals higher risk than one violation every four years even if the point totals are identical.