A standard OWI conviction in Michigan adds six points to your driving record, and a reduced Operating While Visibly Impaired (OWVI) conviction adds four. So when people ask how many points a DUI is in Michigan, six is the number for the typical drunk driving conviction, including the high-BAC “Super Drunk” offense. Refusing a chemical breath or blood test also adds six points, even if you’re never convicted of OWI itself.1Michigan Department of State. What Every Driver Must Know – Chapter 2: Your Driving Record
Six is the maximum any single violation can carry on Michigan’s scale. OWI shares that top tier with offenses like vehicular manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident, and fleeing from police.1Michigan Department of State. What Every Driver Must Know – Chapter 2: Your Driving Record
How the Points Sit on Your Record
Points attach only after a conviction or a finding of responsibility. Nothing lands on your record at the traffic stop or the arrest. If the charge is dismissed or you’re acquitted, no points are added.
Once they attach, the six points stay on your driving record for two years from the conviction date. Michigan tracks every moving violation on a rolling two-year window, and the point system exists to identify drivers whose recent history suggests they shouldn’t be on the road.1Michigan Department of State. What Every Driver Must Know – Chapter 2: Your Driving Record
One detail that surprises people: the Super Drunk charge (BAC of 0.17% or higher) doesn’t carry any extra points. It’s six, same as a standard OWI. The heavier penalties for Super Drunk show up in fines, jail exposure, and license suspension length, not on the point ledger.
What Six Points Means for Your License
Twelve or more points inside a two-year window triggers a mandatory driver assessment reexamination by the Secretary of State. An OWI puts you at six on its own. That leaves very little room. A single four-point violation on top, such as speeding 16 mph over the limit, plus any two-point ticket would push you past the threshold, and another six-point offense would do it immediately.2Michigan Secretary of State. Driver Assessment
The reexamination itself is an informal meeting with a driver assessment analyst who reviews your entire driving history. The analyst has three tools:
- Restrictions written onto your license, letting you keep driving under specific conditions.
- Suspension of your driving privileges for a set period, or indefinitely until you prove you meet safety standards.
- Revocation, after which you must wait one to five years before you can reapply.
Because points from different violations stack, an OWI makes every routine ticket over the next two years far more consequential than it would otherwise be.2Michigan Secretary of State. Driver Assessment
The License Consequences That Come Directly From the Conviction
The point total is only part of what happens to your license after an OWI. The conviction itself carries its own suspension or revocation, imposed regardless of how many other points you have.
A first-offense OWI with a BAC below 0.17% results in a license suspension of up to 180 days. A Super Drunk conviction carries a suspension of up to one year, and the first 45 days are a hard suspension with no driving at all. After those 45 days, a restricted license is possible, but only with an ignition interlock device installed on every vehicle you drive.3Michigan State Police. Impaired Driving Law
A second OWI within seven years of the first triggers a full license revocation rather than a suspension. Revocation means your license is gone; you must wait at least a year before you can apply to have it restored. A third OWI is a felony regardless of when the earlier convictions happened, because Michigan applies no lookback period for third and subsequent offenses.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 257.625 – Operating Motor Vehicle While Intoxicated
So the six points can put your license at risk through the reexamination process, and the conviction itself will separately suspend or revoke it under the OWI statute. Both consequences run at the same time.
How Long the Points and the Conviction Stay
The six points fall off your driving record two years after the conviction date.1Michigan Department of State. What Every Driver Must Know – Chapter 2: Your Driving Record
The conviction is a different matter. An OWI stays on your Michigan driving record permanently, and it stays on your criminal record unless you have it expunged. That permanent entry is what establishes your history for the seven-year lookback used to escalate penalties on a second offense, and it counts forever toward making a future third offense a felony.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 257.625 – Operating Motor Vehicle While Intoxicated
The two-year drop-off applies to the points, not to the underlying record of the conviction. Insurance companies, employers, and courts can still see the OWI long after your point total returns to zero.
A Note for Commercial Drivers
If you hold a commercial driver’s license, the six-point figure understates the damage. Federal law disqualifies you from operating any commercial vehicle for at least one year on a first DUI conviction, and at least three years if you were hauling hazardous materials at the time. A second DUI triggers a lifetime disqualification, with reinstatement possible in some cases after ten years.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 31310 – Disqualifications6eCFR. 49 CFR 383.51 – Disqualification of Drivers
These disqualifications apply even to an OWI you picked up in your personal car, because the disqualification attaches to the conviction, not to the vehicle you were driving.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 31310 – Disqualifications