Driver Responsibility Assessment

I live in New York City and recently received a "Driver Responsibility Assessment Statement" assessing me $300.00 for accumulating 6 points in an 18 month period. I received a 2 point violation for failure to signal a lane change in the spring of 2009 and 4 points for speeding in the summer of 2010. However, the violation for speeding was in Ontario, Canada. How can a violation in a foreign country apply to a New York State law? Is this fightable?

Ontario and Quebec are more or less the only areas where NY will assess points for minor speeding tickets. That unfortunate coincidence means, more or less, that it sucks to be you.

Out of curiosity, why would you assume it illegal for your home state to hold against you your driving violations elsewhere? You are driving like an idiot, so your state wants to keep track of that. Seems logical to me.

The only thing that is "fightable" is your ticket in Ontario. If you can defeat that ticket, then obviously NY can't assess points against your license over it. However, if you lost that court case or otherwise chose not to fight it, then those points are yours to keep. Next time, look this stuff up BEFORE you decide that your out-of-country ticket isn't worth fighting.

To add to "it suck to be you" NY assesses points to your NY license for any tickets you get in any state plus and they are the only state to have an agreement to with certain places in Canada. Beside getting point for ticket in your home state and elsewhere they hit you with the extra cost of personal responsibility fine.

There are a few others here who are more familiar, however, i believe you pay that cost for 3 year or until all the points are gone.

Do not feel bad, NY does the same to out of state drivers who accumulated too many points in NY. They will send you a bill to your home state if they think you drive poorly in NY too often.

You do have the option of paying $100/year for 3 years if you prefer not to cough it all up up front. (Might as well be you making $1.37 in interest than the State.)