The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (NYS DMV) will introduce increased penalty points for several traffic violations starting February 16, 2026, while also extending the period in which a driver can be deemed a 'persistent violator' from 18 to 24 months. This update, formalized in the DMV's official notice on February 5, is positioned as a measure against repeat and systematically dangerous behavior on the road, with a focus on safety for all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists. The official DMV announcement is available on the agency's website in the article DMV Reminds New Yorkers of Updated Point Values for Driving Violations.
For commercial carriers and fleet owners, the key news is that violations that previously did not 'consume' points on a license (particularly those related to height and bridge strikes) now sharply increase the risk of rapid point accumulation for drivers. This affects not only the individual fate of a CDL/license in the state but also staffing stability, insurance conditions, and internal disciplinary policies for companies operating in New York or regularly transiting through the state.
According to the DMV list, the following values are introduced (or existing ones increased) as of the specified date:
Alcohol- or drug-related convictions/incidents: from 0 to 11 points.
Aggravated Unlicensed Operation: from 0 to 11 points.
Passing a stopped school bus: from 5 to 8 points.
Speeding in a work zone: instead of a 'depending on excess' gradient — fixed 8 points.
Over-height vehicle / bridge strike: from 0 to 8 points.
Leaving the scene of a personal injury crash: from 3 to 5 points.
Failure to exercise due care: from 2 to 5 points.
Facilitating aggravated unlicensed operation: from 0 to 5 points.
Speed contests and races: from 0 to 5 points.
The DMV emphasizes that not everything is changing: for example, violations related to the use of mobile phones/portable devices remain at 5 points; 'equipment violations' are still assessed at 0 points. For fleets, this is an important nuance: the reform focuses on dangerous and recurring behavior patterns and specific high-risk events, not on a mass revision of the entire table 'for minor issues.'
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The second part of the changes is the extension of the violation accounting period for DMV actions against persistent violators: it is now 24 months instead of 18. Practically, this means that a driver who 'gets caught' for a serious violation once a year has increased chances of falling into the zone of administrative measures: events remain 'active' for calculation longer.
State regulatory materials on this topic previously directly indicated that expanding the window could increase the number of drivers falling into the persistent violators category by about 40%. This is an important figure for HR and safety departments of carriers: even if discipline does not worsen, the 'math' of the system will start working more often simply due to a longer tail of violation history.
Meanwhile, confusion has already arisen in the industry around thresholds and wording: some local sources and county-level press releases mentioned '10 points over 24 months' as a trigger, while available regulatory texts and DMV pages historically featured an 11-point threshold (previously in an 18-month window). In its February notice, the DMV emphasizes the change in point values and the window itself but does not explicitly repeat the updated point threshold, so carriers building 'red line' policies on points will have to refer to current DMV instructions and driver notification/sanction practices after February 16.
The reclassification of 'over-height/bridge strike' into the 8-point violation category is the most sensitive change for the freight segment. Previously, such episodes could be costly for drivers in direct expenses (damage, downtime, towing, insurance, claims from infrastructure operators) but did not accelerate the path to DMV administrative measures through the point system. Now, a bridge strike begins to act as an 'accelerator' for accumulating points on a license.
For safety managers, this means that a low bridge accident ceases to be solely a claims/maintenance-level incident and becomes a driver eligibility-level incident. With 8 points, one height-related episode combined, for example, with a work zone violation (another 8 points) or passing a school bus (8 points) turns the calendar 24 months into a very short corridor for maintaining a 'clean' license. Even less severe 5-point events (due care, leaving the scene with injuries) in the new configuration bring the driver closer to the threshold, which previously might have required 'several fines,' but now is reached by combining 1-2 serious episodes.
The tightening of points for over-height/bridge strike fits into the broader state line of combating bridge strikes and 'low clearances.' Official state executive materials highlighted the scale: reports of 350 bridge strikes across the state in 2024, as well as typical causes — from not knowing the height of one's vehicle to following routes suggested by consumer GPS applications. These data and emphases were presented in the governor's office announcement about a coordinated awareness and control campaign, where among the messages is the need to check height and not rely on 'ordinary' navigation for commercial transport: Governor Hochul announces New York’s participation in coordinated public awareness and enforcement.
For the transportation market, this is a signal that the topic is at the top level of the agenda. When a problem is publicly 'digitized' and tied to an enforcement/awareness campaign, the likelihood of targeted inspections, attention to routing, and strictness in interpreting circumstances (including by insurers and infrastructure operators) usually increases.
The fixation of 8 points for speeding in a work zone is another pressure point on the freight segment. In New York conditions, where work zones often become 'bottlenecks' on highways and approaches to metropolises, it is here that the temptation to 'save minutes' arises more often. With the new DMV approach, the cost of these minutes sharply increases: a violation in a work zone becomes comparable in points to passing a school bus and an over-height/bridge strike.
The jump to 11 points for alcohol/drugs and aggravated unlicensed operation looks like an attempt to close a 'gap' in the point logic: previously zero values for such episodes in the point system were at odds with the real severity of consequences for safety. For carriers, this increases the value of pre-trip control and a well-documented policy on substance-related risks: any history now is not just a 'stain' in the biography but potentially an almost instant reach to threshold values.
Certain media and local sources described the reform as broader and provided additional figures for points for other violations. However, the official DMV list in February 2026 contains a limited list of specific articles for which points are increased and separately states that, for example, 'mobile devices' remain at the previous level, and 'equipment' does not receive points. In this situation, it is wiser for carriers and drivers working in New York to focus on the DMV's formulations and lists themselves rather than on retellings.
