Your Driving Record: How Long Convictions Stay, the Point System, Alcohol and Drugs, Marijuana, Implied Consent, Drug Suspensions and Driver Reexaminations
Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the Michigan driver's license written knowledge test. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.
Source: What Every Driver Must Know (SOS-133, revised October 2025), Michigan Department of State, chapter 2 "Your Driving Record" (pp. 13–16).
Your record
Driving is a privilege you keep by showing skill and knowledge; otherwise the license may be restricted, suspended or revoked. The Secretary of State receives moving violations, crashes and certain drug crimes from police and courts, including from other states, and posts out-of-state convictions with Michigan points. You may buy a copy of your record at any office. Most convictions stay at least seven years; some convictions and licensing actions at least 10 years; a conviction for a fatality or impaired driving stays permanently. Under the Driver Privacy Protection Act your personal information is released only for permissible uses such as insurance rating, recalls and rental-car verification.
The point system
Traffic violations are civil infractions, misdemeanors or felonies; ignoring a ticket usually suspends the license, and tickets received while suspended add suspensions and a reinstatement fee. Points are posted only after a conviction for a moving violation and stay two years from the conviction date. Six or more one-point violations, or 12 or more points in two years, require a driver assessment reexamination. Insurance companies keep a separate point system, and the Secretary of State cannot set aside a court conviction.
| Points | Violation |
|---|---|
| 6 | Manslaughter, negligent homicide or another felony using a vehicle; operating while intoxicated or with any Schedule 1 drug or cocaine; failing to stop and identify yourself at a crash; reckless driving; refusing a chemical test; fleeing or eluding police; failing to yield and killing or injuring an emergency responder, construction worker or farm-animal handler; a moving violation causing injury or death |
| 4 | Drag racing; impaired driving; under 21 with any bodily alcohol content; 16 mph or more over the limit |
| 3 | Careless driving; disobeying a signal or stop sign, or improper passing; 11 to 15 mph over; failing to stop at a railroad crossing; failing to stop for a school bus or disobeying a crossing guard |
| 2 | 6 to 10 mph over; an open alcohol container; all other moving violations; refusing a preliminary breath test under 21; failing to yield or show due caution for emergency vehicles |
Alcohol and drugs
A 12-ounce beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine and a 1.5-ounce shot hold the same alcohol and affect the body the same way. Even one drink impairs driving, slows reaction, dulls concentration and disturbs vision. Only time sobers you; coffee, cold showers, exercise and fresh air do not. Choose a designated driver, take a taxi or transit, and never ride with someone who has been drinking; take their keys if you must.
Drug convictions suspend the license even if you were not driving, and even for possession, manufacture or distribution: six months with no prior drug violations (no restricted license for the first 30 days), and one year with a prior drug conviction within seven years (no restricted license for 60 days), plus a separate $125 reinstatement fee.
Marijuana distorts perception of time, space and speed. Adults 21 and older may transport 2.5 ounces or less (no more than 15 grams as concentrate), but it is illegal to operate or be in physical control of any vehicle, aircraft, snowmobile, off-road vehicle or boat while under its influence, to consume it while operating one, to smoke it in the passenger area of a vehicle on a public road, or to carry it into Canada. Officers judge impairment from driving, observation and field sobriety tests and may request a chemical test; under implied consent, every driver agreed to such tests when applying for or renewing a license, and refusing brings a suspension. Driving under the influence of marijuana carries the same penalties as alcohol: up to 93 days in jail, up to $500, suspension, six points, and more with minors aboard.
Driver reexaminations
A reexamination may be ordered when the Secretary of State believes you are unfit or have a physical, visual or mental condition making driving unsafe; after a fatal crash where you were negligent or drinking; after three or more crashes with injury or damage in two years; after 12 or more points in two years; or after a conviction for violating your license restrictions. Probationary and GDL drivers may be called in after only one or two violations. A driver analyst reviews the record and discusses your driving; the outcome can be restrictions, suspension, revocation or a combination, with appeal rights explained. A medical reexamination may require vision, written and road tests and current medical information.
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More of this guide
Operator's, chauffeur's and commercial licenses and endorsements, REAL ID, converting an out-of-state license, GDL Segments 1 and 2 and Levels 1, 2 and 3 with their hours, curfew and passenger limits, the 180-day TIP and 30-day practice rule for adults, required documents, vision and knowledge tests, the driving skills test, health restrictions, probation, name and address changes, four-year renewals, voter registration and state ID cards.
The hands-free law and its $100 and $250 fines, Kelsey's Law, Click It or Ticket, car seats until 8 or 4 feet 9 inches, rear seats under 4, pickup beds, unattended children, air bags, the Basic Speed Law and the 15, 25, 55, 70 and 45 mph limits, doubled work-zone fines and points, green maintenance lights, the Move Over law's 10 mph rule, 500 feet behind emergency vehicles and stopping 20 feet from a school bus.
Yielding when turning and at intersections, left turns on red, four-way stops and dark signals, funeral processions, pedestrian right of way, passing on the left and right and where passing is prohibited, right-lane rules, turning and lane changes, roundabouts, stopping 15 to 50 feet from the tracks and the 20-second rule, parking on hills, parallel parking, disability parking and the full list of no-parking distances.
The nine sign shapes and nine sign colors, route markers, regulatory and warning signs from the manual's sign challenge, white and yellow lines, fog lines, double white lines, crosswalks, stop lines, arrows, green bike lanes, left-turn center lanes, Michigan Lefts, yield lines, signal colors, the doghouse signal, the flashing yellow arrow, pedestrian signals and the pedestrian hybrid beacon.
Truck stopping distances of 400 feet, no zones, wide right turns, passing a truck, the slow-moving vehicle triangle and horse-drawn buggies, yielding to pedestrians and white canes, the 3-to-4-second gap behind riders, wind blast and engine braking, the ban on sharing a lane with a motorcycle, the moped definition, the 3-foot bicycle passing law, green bike lanes and autocycles.
Aggressive driving and road rage, intersections, freeway rules and who yields when merging, HOV lanes, missed exits, fatigue breaks, cruise control, an oncoming vehicle in your lane, the first half hour of rain, hydroplaning, floods, fog, ice, skids, ABS and threshold braking, the 3-to-4-second rule, headlights at 500 feet, crashes and the $1,000 report, deer crashes, vehicle security, breakdowns and what to do when pulled over.