You be the Judge: How Are Points Assessed For Motor Vehicle Offenses?

YOU BE THE JUDGE

HOW ARE POINTS ASSESSED FOR MOTOR VEHICLE OFFENSES?

N.J.S.A. 39:4-97.2 prohibits driving in an unsafe manner likely to endanger a person or property. No penalty points are assessed by the Division of Motor Vehicles upon conviction of first and second convictions, but penalty points are assessed for third or subsequent offenses.

The law also provides that an offense that occurs more than five years after "the prior offense" shall not be considered a "subsequent offense" for the purpose of assessing points.

In a recent case, Patel v. New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, A-86, Sept. 2008, the New Jersey Supreme Court was called upon to interpret the five year clause.

Appellant Patel was a repeat violator of the unsafe driving statute. She pleaded guilty to unsafe driving in May, 2002 and again in August, 2002, and again in June, 2006 and yet again in November, 2007.

She was fined each time and assessed penalty points for her third offense. When she was assessed four more points for her fourth conviction in 2007, Patel argued that her fourth conviction occurred more than five years after her first and second offenses, so it should be considered as a "second offense" under the statute. As such, she argued, no points could be assessed.

YOU BE THE JUDGE: Does the five year reference to penalty points run from the first offense or the offense immediately preceding the most recent conviction?

The Supreme Court examined the statutory history and the language of the statute. It concluded that the Legislature intended to punish drivers with motor vehicle points for multiple unsafe driving offenses that are close in time.

The Governor, in signing the bill, issued a news release that points would be assessed where the third or subsequent offense occurred within five years of the preceding offense.

From the language of the statute and the legislative history, the Court held that the reference to "the prior offense" meant the offense which was immediately preceding. Here Patel was convicted of her fourth unsafe driving offense only one year after her prior, third unsafe driving offense and the assessment of penalty points was appropriate.

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