A speeding ticket in Georgia adds anywhere from zero to six points to your license, depending on how far over the limit you were going. Anything under 15 mph over the posted limit carries no points at all, while 34 mph or more over carries the maximum six.1Georgia Department of Driver Services. Points and Points Reduction Points are only assessed once you’re convicted, and paying the fine counts as a conviction.
Points by Speed Over the Limit
Georgia’s point schedule for a speeding conviction breaks down by how far over the limit you were clocked:2Georgia Department of Driver Services. Points Schedule
- Less than 15 mph over: 0 points
- 15 to 18 mph over: 2 points
- 19 to 23 mph over: 3 points
- 24 to 33 mph over: 4 points
- 34 mph or more over: 6 points
Zero points is not the same as no record. A ticket for 10 mph over still produces a conviction that sits on your driving history and that your insurer can see. You just don’t take a hit to your DDS point total.
When Points Cost You Your License
Points matter because enough of them trigger a suspension, and the threshold depends on your age.
- If you’re 21 or older, your license is suspended once you accumulate 15 or more points within any rolling 24-month period, measured from the date of each violation.2Georgia Department of Driver Services. Points Schedule
- If you’re under 21, a single conviction worth four or more points triggers an automatic suspension. One ticket for 24 mph over the limit is enough.3Justia Law. Georgia Code 40-5-57.1 – Suspension of Licenses
- If you’re under 18, four or more points within any 12-month period produces a suspension. A single four-point ticket does it, and so does a combination of smaller violations.3Justia Law. Georgia Code 40-5-57.1 – Suspension of Licenses
The gap between the adult rule and the under-21 rule is wide. A 25-year-old doing 25 over on the highway picks up four points and keeps driving. A 20-year-old in the same car at the same speed loses the license on that one ticket.
Once a license is suspended for points, reinstatement requires a fee paid to the DDS, starting at $200 by mail or $210 in person for a first offense and climbing with each successive suspension.4Georgia Department of Driver Services. Reinstatement Fees and Payment
Keeping Points Off Your Record
Nolo Contendere Plea
If you’re 21 or older, a nolo contendere (no contest) plea stops the DDS from adding points for a conviction. You can use it once every five years, and it requires the judge’s approval, which is typically granted for routine speeding tickets.5Georgia Courts. Will Nolo Plea Avoid Points/Suspension? You still pay the fine, and the conviction still shows on your driving history. When you appear in court on a traffic citation, your three options are to plead guilty, plead not guilty and request a trial, or plead nolo contendere.6Georgia.gov. Prepare for a Traffic Violation Court Appearance
Drivers under 21 should know that a nolo plea does not shield them from the automatic suspension rules. Georgia law treats the plea as a conviction for purposes of the under-21 suspension thresholds.3Justia Law. Georgia Code 40-5-57.1 – Suspension of Licenses
Defensive Driving Course
Completing a DDS-certified Driver Improvement course removes up to seven points from your record, and like the nolo plea it’s available once every five years.1Georgia Department of Driver Services. Points and Points Reduction The reduction applies to points already on your record, so you take the course after the conviction. Submit the original certificate of completion to the DDS in person or by mail. The underlying conviction stays on your record even after the points come off.
The Super Speeder Fee
Beyond points, Georgia layers a separate state penalty called Super Speeder on the fastest tickets. You’re a Super Speeder if you’re convicted of driving 75 mph or more on a two-lane road, or 85 mph or more on any road or highway. That triggers an additional $200 state fee on top of your local court fine.7Justia Law. Georgia Code 40-6-189 – Classification as Super Speeder; Fees
The Super Speeder designation itself does not add extra points beyond those the underlying speeding violation already carries.8Georgia Department of Driver Services. Reinstatement FAQs – Super Speeder The deadline is where it gets dangerous. If you don’t pay the $200 within 120 days of the DDS notice, your license is suspended automatically, and reinstatement requires an additional $50 fee on top of the original $200.9Georgia.gov. Pay a Super Speeder Fine
An out-of-state license does not get you out of this. Drivers from other states owe the same $200 fee on the same 120-day clock, and nonpayment results in a suspension of your privilege to drive in Georgia, which the DDS reports to your home state.8Georgia Department of Driver Services. Reinstatement FAQs – Super Speeder
What a Speeding Ticket Does to Your Insurance
Insurance companies run their own analysis and don’t limit themselves to the DDS point count. Even a zero-point ticket for under 15 mph over appears on your record and can push rates up. Georgia drivers see an average premium increase of roughly 6% after a single speeding conviction, with the exact impact varying by insurer and by how fast you were going.
Most insurers look back three to five years when pricing your policy, so a ticket from a few years ago may still be adding to each bill. That’s part of why the nolo plea is worth considering even on a minor ticket: the conviction still appears, but some insurers treat a nolo differently from a guilty plea when calculating surcharges.
If You Hold a CDL
Commercial drivers face a parallel federal system on top of Georgia’s. Under federal regulations, driving 15 mph or more over the posted limit is a serious traffic violation. Two serious traffic violations within a three-year period produce a 60-day disqualification from operating a commercial vehicle, and a third within the same window extends the disqualification to 120 days.10eCFR. 49 CFR 383.51 – Disqualification of Drivers
That 15-mph threshold happens to be exactly where Georgia starts assessing points, so every speeding conviction that puts points on your Georgia record also counts toward CDL disqualification. For a professional driver, the math on fighting a ticket or negotiating it down to a non-moving violation changes accordingly.