Drivers will have to pay attention to the driving rules in New York in order to keep their driver’s license and avoid having it revoked permanently. Some adjustments were made in the Traffic Law in 2025 to prevent reckless drivers from hitting the streets in the Big Apple. According to the New York City Council website, in 2024 there were 253 traffic-related deaths in the city – averaging one fatality every 35 hours. In the same year, at least 132 vehicles received 100 or more speed tickets, with two vehicles receiving over 500 tickets each.
Cars are common in the Big Apple, but many residents don’t rely on it
New York is one of the most populous cities in the world, and even though, many residents choose to use the subway and bicycles to make trips in the city. A big portion of residents owns cars, and the cabs are all over the three main islands – Long Island, Manhattan, and Staten Island. Manhattan is the place with the lowest percentage of residents owning a car, approximately only 22%, while Staten Island has over 80% of the population owning a car.
Some studies suggest that New York City has a high rate of sustainable transportation modes, with 65% of the trips made by walking or biking, but even with a relatively small portion of the population owning a car, accidents are still frequent, and the state decided that punishments for infringing the speed limits, driver under the influence, and other categories should be more severe.
New York City DMV increase punishments
The New York Department of Motor Vehicles developed a new point system for drivers that increases the penalty for certain violations. The state proposed the changes in 2023 to get high-risk drivers off the road. Almost three years later, these changes will be active as soon as February 2026.
The new changes will feature much higher punishments for those who drive recklessly in the streets, such as eleven points for driving while intoxicated (DWI). The most drastic changes involve zones where the risk of accident is bigger, like construction and schools – if someone gets caught speeding in construction zones, all the tickets will start at eight points, the same as those passing a stopped school bus.
Drivers will have more time to seek plea bargain
On the other hand, the state is also looking to extend the look-back period for the number of points leading to the suspension of the driver’s license. Currently, if you get eleven points in 18 months, the license could be suspended. If NYC decides to make this change, the new time frame will be 24 months – a counter-move made by the DMV to extend the tacking period comes as an incentive for people to seek a plea bargain of their tickets.
The website 2 On Your Side went after an attorney called Adam Rosenblum, specialized in traffic law, to clarify what the changes actually mean and what the future implications are. To make it clear what the adjustments made by the New York State DMV, Rosenblum said that if someone is only 10 miles over the speed limit, what previously – and now – is a three-point offense, it becomes an eight-point offense.
The amount of points for each infraction is as follows:
- 11-point violations include: Speeding 40mph over the limit; Driving with a revoked or suspended license; Any alcohol, drug-related driving offense.
- 8-point violations include: Speeding 30-40 mph over the limit; Passing a stopped school bus; Exceeding high restriction on highways, bridges, or hitting highway structures.
- 5-point violations include: Reckless driving; Participating in street races or illegal speed contests; Leaving the scene of the accident without reporting; Unlicensed operation of the vehicle.
- 4-point violation: Speeding 10-20 mph over the limit.
- 3-point violation: Not yielding or improper passing.