A failure to maintain lane citation in Connecticut is a non-criminal infraction under General Statutes 14-236 that costs $142 total, adds points to your driving record, and can push your insurance premium up at renewal.1Connecticut Judicial Branch. Mail-In Violations and Infractions Schedule Penalties It’s one of the milder tickets you can get in Connecticut, but the statute itself gives you more room to contest it than most drivers realize.
What the Statute Actually Requires
Section 14-236 applies to any road divided into two or more clearly marked lanes. It requires you to keep your vehicle within a single lane “as nearly as practicable,” and it forbids changing lanes until you’ve confirmed the move can be made safely.2Justia. Connecticut Code 14-236 – Multiple-Lane Highways
That phrase “as nearly as practicable” does a lot of work. The law doesn’t demand that your tires never touch a lane line. It requires that you stay in your lane to the extent realistically possible. A brief drift while reacting to road conditions is not the same thing as sustained weaving, and that distinction often decides whether a citation survives in court.
Because 14-236 is an infraction and not a crime, there’s no jail exposure and no criminal record. The costs are financial, administrative, and reputational on your driving history.
What You’ll Pay
The total due on a 14-236 ticket is $142. That includes the base fine (the statutory maximum for any infraction is $90) plus mandatory surcharges and fees, including a $25 fee that applies specifically to violations of sections 14-230 through 14-240.1Connecticut Judicial Branch. Mail-In Violations and Infractions Schedule Penalties
If the stop happened in a highway construction zone, utility work zone, or fire station work zone while work was actively underway, the total doubles to $192. The extra charge comes from a surcharge equal to 100 percent of the base fine for work-zone infractions.1Connecticut Judicial Branch. Mail-In Violations and Infractions Schedule Penalties
Points on Your License
Connecticut assigns point values to moving violations, and those points stay on your record for 24 months from the date of the infraction. If your total crosses 10 points within any 24-month window, the DMV commissioner suspends your license for 30 days.3Connecticut eRegulations. Connecticut Regulation 14-137a-8 – Suspension Hearing You can request a hearing before the suspension takes effect, but the hearing is limited to confirming your identity and that the point total is correct.
A second point-based suspension within five years has no fixed 30-day end. Your license stays suspended until your point total drops back to 10 or below, which only happens as older violations age past the 24-month mark.3Connecticut eRegulations. Connecticut Regulation 14-137a-8 – Suspension Hearing
A single lane ticket on an otherwise clean record isn’t going to put you near 10 points. The risk is cumulative. If you already have other recent violations, even a low-value infraction can push you over the line, or trigger the retraining program described below.
The Operator Retraining Trigger
Connecticut doesn’t offer a voluntary point-reduction course. It runs a mandatory Operator Retraining Program that activates when you accumulate multiple moving violations. If you’re 24 or younger with two moving violations on your record, or 25 and older with three, the DMV requires you to complete the program.4CT.gov. CT Operator Retraining Program – Multiple Violations
The course vendor can charge up to $85. After you complete it, you have to go 36 consecutive months without another moving violation. Pick one up during that window and the DMV suspends your license for 30 days for the first, 60 days for the second, and 90 days for the third, with a $175 reinstatement fee each time and the 36-month clock restarting.4CT.gov. CT Operator Retraining Program – Multiple Violations The program doesn’t erase points. It puts you on notice.
Insurance
Insurers review your driving record at renewal, and a moving violation signals increased risk. A single lane infraction on an otherwise clean record may produce a modest premium bump or none at all, depending on the carrier. Stacked on top of other recent violations, it reinforces a pattern insurers price more aggressively.
Expect the effect at your next renewal, not immediately. Some insurers look back three to five years, so the impact can outlast the 24 months the points sit on your DMV record. Getting fresh quotes from competing carriers after a violation sometimes reveals that another insurer weighs it differently.
Deciding Whether to Fight It
The statute’s “as nearly as practicable” language is the starting point for most defenses, because 14-236 itself concedes that perfect lane discipline isn’t always possible. If you had a reason to leave your lane, that reason is often the defense.
- Avoiding a hazard like a pothole, debris, or an animal in the road.
- Weather conditions: standing water, a sudden gust, or ice pushing the car across a line.
- Reacting to another driver who was drifting toward you or driving aggressively.
- Faded or obscured lane markings, common in construction zones or poor visibility.
Procedural challenges can also work. If the officer’s dashcam or bodycam footage shows a less severe deviation than the citation describes, that undermines the state’s case. Errors on the ticket itself, such as the wrong statute or an incorrect location, can be grounds for dismissal. Gather evidence early. Request any dashcam or bodycam footage from the citing agency, photograph the location with attention to lane markings and road surface, and pull weather records for the date and time if weather was a factor. The side that shows up with documentation rather than just testimony tends to have the stronger position.
How to Plead Not Guilty
Your ticket shows an “Answer Date.” That’s the deadline to either pay the $142 or contest the citation. You have two choices: pay and accept the infraction, or plead not guilty.
To pay, use the Connecticut Judicial Branch’s Centralized Infractions Bureau online portal or mail the payment with the envelope that came with your ticket. Allow 7 to 30 days after the citation for the ticket to appear in the online system.5Connecticut Judicial Branch. Pay Your Traffic Ticket or Plead Not Guilty
To plead not guilty, do it through the same portal, sign the back of the ticket and mail it, or call the Centralized Infractions Bureau at (860) 263-2750 during business hours.6Connecticut Judicial Branch. Traffic Violation – Complaint Ticket FAQ The case then transfers to a Superior Court in the area where the ticket was issued, and the court mails you a hearing date.
What Court Looks Like
There’s no arraignment. At the courthouse you’ll have the chance to speak with the prosecutor before your case is called, and most infraction cases are resolved in that conversation. The prosecutor may offer a reduced fine, drop the charge entirely (a “nolle”), or decline to negotiate.6Connecticut Judicial Branch. Traffic Violation – Complaint Ticket FAQ If you reach an acceptable deal, you’re done that day.
Connecticut also runs an Online Ticket Review Program, where a prosecutor reviews the circumstances of your ticket without you appearing in person. If you’d rather handle it from home, that option is worth checking.
If you reject the offer, or the prosecutor won’t negotiate, you can request a trial before a magistrate. The trial won’t happen that day; you’ll get a new date by mail. At trial, the magistrate hears testimony from you and the citing officer, reviews evidence, and issues a verdict. You can bring witnesses and physical evidence such as dashcam footage. Infraction cases cannot go to a jury.7Connecticut Judicial Branch. What Happens When You Go to Traffic Court You can hire an attorney or represent yourself.
When a Lane Violation Turns Into Something Worse
A lane infraction by itself is minor. When it contributes to an accident or coincides with other dangerous behavior, the exposure changes.
If prosecutors conclude your lane departure reflected a broader pattern of dangerous driving, you could face reckless driving charges under General Statutes 14-222. A first conviction carries a fine between $100 and $300, up to 30 days in jail, or both. A subsequent offense raises the ceiling to $600 and up to one year in prison.8Justia. Connecticut Code 14-222 – Reckless Driving Unlike the infraction, reckless driving is a crime and creates a permanent record.
Drifting out of a lane is also one of the most common reasons officers initiate DUI stops. A first DUI conviction in Connecticut carries a fine of $500 to $1,000, up to six months in jail with a mandatory minimum of 48 consecutive hours that cannot be suspended, a 45-day license suspension, and a one-year ignition interlock requirement after your license is restored.9Justia. Connecticut Code 14-227a – Operation While Under the Influence If any of that is in play, you’re well past the territory this article covers and should talk to a lawyer.
If You Have a CDL
Commercial drivers face a stricter framework. A CDL holder convicted of two “serious traffic violations” within three years is disqualified from operating commercial vehicles for 60 days. Three such convictions within three years extend the disqualification to 120 days.10Justia. Connecticut Code 14-44k – Disqualification From Operation of Commercial Motor Vehicles Those periods apply whether the violation happened in a commercial vehicle or a personal one.
Whether a 14-236 ticket counts as a “serious traffic violation” depends on the statutory definition and how the commissioner classifies it. An improper lane change generally qualifies; a momentary drift may not. Even infractions that don’t trigger disqualification still appear on a record that transportation employers are required to check.
If You’re from Out of State
Connecticut belongs to both the Nonresident Violator Compact and the Driver License Compact.11AAMVA. Driver License Compact and Non-Resident Violator Compact Joinder Dates Ignoring the citation won’t make it disappear once you cross state lines. Under the Nonresident Violator Compact, failure to respond to the ticket lets your home state suspend your license until you resolve it. Under the Driver License Compact, a Connecticut conviction is reported to your home state’s DMV, which then applies its own point values and insurance consequences as if the violation happened at home.