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What must I do if I receive a traffic ticket in NYS?

The back of your traffic ticket contains information on how to answer the ticket. You must respond to the ticket to prevent a suspension of your driver license or driving privileges. It is a crime to drive with a suspended or revoked license.

Note: You can answer most DMV Traffic Violations Bureau (TVB) traffic tickets online. Even if the ticket does not include information about online pleas, you can attempt to enter a plea online as explained below.

Local courts handle traffic tickets for moving violations in most parts of New York State. The DMV Traffic Violations Bureau (TVB) only handles non-criminal moving violations that occur in:

• the five boroughs of New York City, and
• the cities of Buffalo and Rochester.

The local criminal courts in these areas handle criminal traffic violations, like DWI or reckless driving. For information about criminal traffic violations, contact the local criminal court.

You can pay fines and surcharges that are payable to a TVB with a Visa card, MasterCard, American Express card or Discover Card.

DMV Traffic Violations Bureaus:

See the DMV brochure, Traffic Violations Bureau, for complete information about the TVB.

For most TVB traffic tickets, you can plead to the TVB ticket online. You can then either schedule a hearing for the traffic ticket, or you can pay with your credit card for the fines, and the fees, and the surcharges for the ticket. See the information about how to plead online to TVB traffic tickets. You cannot plead online to traffic tickets that must be answered in a local court.

If you must respond to the ticket at a TVB office, follow the instructions on the ticket.

You can also contact a TVB office listed on the DMV Offices page or one of the following offices:

To plea by mail:   Traffic Violations Plea Unit P.O. Box 2950 - ESP Albany, NY 12220-0950

To enter a plea and/or pay in person - upstate area:   Albany Traffic Violations Division Customer Service Counter 6 Empire State Plaza , Room 136 Albany, NY 12228

Upstate NY area:   Traffic Violations Bureau Call Center 1-518-474-0941

New York City area:   Traffic Violations Bureau Call Center 1-718-488-5710

Bring proof of identity (for example, your driver license) when you visit a TVB office.

Note: The DMV does not handle parking violations, or regulate parking. The DMV cannot respond to questions about parking tickets. Contact the locality if you have parking tickets or questions about local regulations. Your failure to respond to parking tickets can prevent the renewal of your vehicle registration or cause your registration to be suspended.

What if I do not respond to a traffic ticket, pay a fine, or pay a mandatory surcharge?

The traffic court or Traffic Violations Bureau (TVB) notifies the DMV. The DMV suspends your driver license until you respond to the ticket pay the fine, or pay the mandatory surcharge.

A suspension for the failure to respond to a ticket does not indicate that you are guilty of the charge. The suspension only indicates that you failed to respond to the ticket.

To remove the suspension, you must respond to the ticket, pay the fine, or pay the mandatory surcharge. You also must pay the suspension termination fee of $35 to the traffic court or the TVB. For suspensions that have an effective date on or after July 6, 2009, the fee is $70. Contact the traffic court or TVB to remove these suspensions.

If you continue to ignore the ticket after you received a suspension from a TVB for failure to respond to the ticket, you will receive a default conviction. The default conviction is equivalent to a guilty finding. The DMV then suspends your driver license for your failure to pay the fine. To remove a default conviction from a TVB, you must pay a $35 suspension termination fee, for failure to answer the ticket and a $35 suspension termination fee for failure to pay the fine, for a total of $70. For suspensions that have an effective date on or after July 6, 2009, the suspension termination fee is $70 for each suspension.

The suspension termination fees are separate charges from the fines and the surcharges for a conviction. You must pay the suspension termination fees, the fines and the surcharges to remove the suspension.

Some convictions can cause the suspension or the revocation of your driver license. To get information about suspensions and revocations, read the DMV brochure, "Suppose Your License Were Taken Away". You need Adobe Acrobat Reader®. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader®, see these instructions.

If I get a ticket for a moving violation in another state, do I receive points on my NYS driver license?

The NYSDMV does not record out-of-state violations committed by NYS drivers in other jurisdictions. The exceptions are alcohol-related violations, drug-related violations, and moving violations committed in Quebec or Ontario. Under special agreements, traffic convictions in Quebec or Ontario are recorded on NYS driver license records and carry points. Except for violations in Ontario and Quebec, points are not added to your NYS record for out-of-state violations.

If you do not respond to a ticket or fail to pay a fine for a moving violation that you committed in any state except Alaska, California, Michigan, Montana, Oregon or Wisconsin, the DMV suspends your NYS driver license until you respond to the ticket or pay the fine. If a driver from a state except these six states fails to respond to a traffic ticket issued in NYS, their driver license will be suspended until the driver responds to the traffic ticket in NYS.

Drivers from other states must contact  the DMV in their home state to get information about the effect of a traffic violation conviction that occurs in NYS.

If you receive a conviction for an alcohol-related or drug-related driving violation in any state, your NYS driver license is revoked for at least six months.

What must I do if I receive a parking ticket?

The DMV does not handle parking violations or regulate parking. If you receive a parking ticket or have questions about local parking rules, contact your city, town or village. Do not contact the DMV. You must respond to the tickets in the locality where they were issued.

If you fail to answer parking tickets, the locality can notify the DMV. The DMV can prevent the renewal of your vehicle registration, or suspend your vehicle registration. You can renew your registration after you respond to the tickets and pay the fines.

What is the driver violation point system?

See the information about the driver violation point system.

What is the Driver Responsibility Program? What is a driver responsibility assessment?

To get information about driver responsibility assessments and the Driver Responsibility Program, read the FAQs.

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