Driver's license. All you need to know about point restitution deadlines

After an infraction, how long will it take you to recover your capital point(s)?

If losing the points of your driving license can be fast, recovering them is much longer. There are different time limits ranging from 6 months to 10 years depending on the cases and the offenses in question. The argus takes stock of the issue.

Established by a law of July 10, 1989, which entered into force on 1^er July 1992, the point-based driving license is full of subtleties. The question of deadlines for returning points removed is one. Knowing the different applicable rules makes it possible to optimize the management of this precious capital which unfortunately tends to fall faster than it is replenished.

TO READ. Driver’s license. It celebrates its 100 years of existence!

The starting point of the different deadlines

fine notice — The payment of the last fixed fine one of the elements which allows to open the way to a recovery of points.

Article L. 223-6 of the Highway Code lists the time points for recovering points and their starting points. To determine the date on which you can expect to see your license recredited with points, it is first of all necessary to identify the starting point of the period to be taken into account.

The various periods for returning points start from the date of one of the following events:

payment of the last fixed fine (case of payment of the fixed fine by the offender after receipt of the notice of contravention),
the issuance of the enforceable title of the last increased fixed fine (this is the title issued by the officer of the public prosecutor’s office when the fine, even increased, has not been paid voluntarily),
the execution of the last criminal composition (alternative procedure to prosecution decided by the public prosecutor),
the last final conviction (when the offense has been prosecuted and condemned by the court or the court of appeal in the event of an appeal),
a new infraction resulting in the deduction of points.

The starting point for point recovery times therefore varies depending on the case. One constant, however: the commission of a new offense sanctioned by a withdrawal of point(s) will reset the counter to zero and start a new period whose duration will be 2 or 3 years depending on the last offense committed.

6 months for infringements sanctioned by the withdrawal of a point

police radar binoculars — It takes 6 months to recover a point lost following a speeding less than 20 km/h.

Offenses that have led to the withdrawal of a point from the driving license give rise to the reattribution of the latter within a period of 6 months if no new offense has been committed during this period of course. A preferential regime which is only intended to apply to 4 types of fines only:

speeding less than 20 km/h beyond the maximum authorized speed,
the overlapping of a continuous axial or dividing line of traffic lanes (and not the crossing of these sanctioned by a withdrawal of 3 points),
the overlapping or crossing of the lines delimiting the hard shoulders,
failure to wear motorized two-wheeler protective gloves,

Be careful, however, because Committing a new offense resulting in the withdrawal of a point during this 6-month period is very penalizing. The time limit for restitution of the point lost for the first offense will no longer be 6 months but 2 or even 3 years depending on the nature of the last offense. Only the second offense will then be eligible for the 6-month period.

3 years for most offenses

phone driving — It takes three years to recover your points when you get caught on the phone.

By far the most common period for redeeming points is 3 years. It applies to misdemeanors but also to contraventions of the 4^th and 5^th classroom. However, the vast majority of offenses sanctioned by a deduction of points are fines of 4^th classroom. This deadline mainly applies to the following offences:

Driving without a seat belt,
The use of a telephone held in the hand or the wearing of any device likely to emit sound in the ear,
The refusal of priority, including with regard to pedestrians,
Failing to stop absolutely at a red light or at a stop sign,
The crossing of a continuous axial or dividing line of traffic lanes,
Traffic in the wrong direction,
Failure to respect the safety distance between 2 vehicles,
Speeding greater than or equal to 20 km/h beyond the maximum authorized speed,
dangerous overtaking,
Keeping a vehicle in circulation without a periodic technical inspection,
Driving under the influence of an alcoholic state with a pure alcohol level greater than or equal to 0.50 g per liter of blood (or 0.25 mg per liter of exhaled air),
Traffic at night or in poor visibility without lighting,
The entry into service of a vehicle without a registration certificate.

A 2-year period reserved for 2 tickets only

police van control — The omission of the indicator, penalized by a withdrawal of 3 points, claims two years of delay to recover its capital.

The 2-year period, although presented as the principle by article L. 223-6 of the Highway Code, in reality concerns only very few offences. It only applies to offenses in the first three categories, of which only two are sources of point deductions:

that relating to the use of the turn signal in the event of a change of direction (contravention of 2^th class, – 3 points),
speeding less than 20 km/h committed outside built-up areas (3^th class, – 1 point).

This 2-year period is only found in the following cases:

when the offender has committed the offense relating to the use of a flashing light,
when an offense is committed successively resulting in the withdrawal of a point from the driving license, then a speeding less than 20 km/h outside built-up areas before the expiry of the 6-month period during which it would have been possible to recover the first point lost for the primary offence.

This two-year period is therefore relatively symbolic and all the more so since the creation of new fines for the first 3 classes has never been on the agenda.

Up to 10 years of delay…

Finally, the legislator has provided a period of 10 years for those who have committed new offenses before being reallocated the points withdrawn for the previous offence. This system thus makes it possible to recover the points deducted for each offense after 10 years, regardless of the number and date of the offenses. It should be noted that this period concerns only the first 4 classes of fine, excluding misdemeanors and fines of 5^th class, most serious offences.

car driving — Plan to do a point recovery course when your point capital is low.

The author of excessive speeding (over 50 km/h), driving after the use of narcotics or under the influence of a criminal alcoholic state (alcohol level greater than or equal to 0.80 g/litre of blood), will therefore not be able to benefit from it. In this situation, in the event of successive infringements before the expiry of the 3-year period, the automatic reconstitution of the capital of points will be impossible. It will then be necessary to turn to a point recovery course. The latter can be carried out once a year, makes it possible to obtain the restitution of a maximum of 4 points and costs on average 250 €, in addition to two days of assiduous attendance.