What Is a Title 75 Violation in Pennsylvania: Points and Fines

A Title 75 violation in Pennsylvania is any offense under Title 75 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, the state’s Vehicle Code. That single body of law covers everything from a rolling stop to vehicular homicide. What you’ll pay, and whether you’ll keep your license, depends almost entirely on how the offense is graded and how many points you already carry.

The Three Grades of Vehicle Code Offenses

Pennsylvania sorts Vehicle Code violations into summary offenses, misdemeanors, and felonies.

Summary offenses are the least serious and cover most traffic stops: speeding, running a red light, rolling through a stop sign, following too closely, careless driving. They’re handled in magisterial district courts. The default fine is $25 where the code doesn’t set a higher amount, but many offenses do set a higher amount.¹ Driving without required insurance, for example, carries a $300 fine plus a three-month suspension of both your registration and your license.²

Misdemeanors involve more dangerous conduct or repeat behavior. A first DUI at the general impairment level is an ungraded misdemeanor; a first DUI at higher blood-alcohol levels or involving controlled substances is graded as a first- or second-degree misdemeanor with mandatory jail time.³ A hit-and-run causing only minor injury is a first-degree misdemeanor.⁴ These cases move to the Court of Common Pleas and carry significantly longer potential jail sentences and higher fines.

Felonies are reserved for the worst Vehicle Code offenses. A hit-and-run where the victim suffers serious bodily injury is a third-degree felony with a 90-day minimum prison term and a $1,000 mandatory fine. If the victim dies, it rises to a second-degree felony with a three-year minimum and a $2,500 mandatory fine.⁴ Any felony in which a vehicle was “essentially involved” also triggers a mandatory one-year license suspension on top of the criminal sentence.⁵

Points on Your Record for Common Violations

PennDOT assigns points to moving-violation convictions. The number depends on the offense:⁶

Speeding 6 to 10 mph over the limit: 2 points
Speeding 11 to 15 mph over: 3 points (plus a 15-day suspension if in an active work zone)
Speeding 26 to 30 mph over: 5 points (plus a 15-day suspension if in a work zone)
Running a red light: 3 points
Failing to stop at a stop sign: 3 points
Failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk: 2 points
Following too closely: 3 points
Careless driving: 3 points
Failing to stop for a school bus with flashing red lights: 5 points plus a 60-day license suspension
Failing to comply with a railroad crossing gate: 4 points plus a 30-day suspension

The last two items are a reminder that some offenses carry an automatic suspension on the first conviction, no matter how clean your record was going in.⁷

What Happens as Points Add Up

PennDOT acts at specific thresholds.

The first time your record reaches six points, you receive a notice requiring you to pass a special written exam or complete a Driver Improvement School course. You have 30 days. Miss the deadline and your license is suspended indefinitely until you comply.⁶

If your record drops below six and then climbs back, the response gets steeper. You’ll attend a departmental hearing and complete Driver Improvement School. The department may require an on-road driving exam and can suspend your license up to 15 days on the second accumulation, or up to 30 days on a third or later one.⁸

Reach 11 points and the suspension is automatic. The length depends on how many times you’ve been suspended before. A first suspension runs five days per point: 11 points means 55 days off the road. Later suspensions are significantly longer, and getting your license back after any of them requires paying a restoration fee to PennDOT.⁶

What a Ticket Actually Costs

The number printed on your citation isn’t what you’ll pay. Pennsylvania stacks mandatory add-ons on top of every base fine.

The default summary fine is $25, with many offenses setting higher amounts.¹ Every traffic conviction except parking adds a $20 Emergency Medical Services cost that funds the state’s EMS Operating Fund.⁹

Then there’s the Section 6506 surcharge. Most standard traffic violations carry a $45 surcharge. Speeding 16 to 25 mph over the limit raises it to $60; speeding 26 mph or more over triggers $75. Passing a school bus with flashing lights also carries a $75 surcharge. DUI surcharges start at $75 for a first offense and climb to $450 for a fourth or subsequent one.¹

Add the base fine, the EMS cost, the Section 6506 surcharge, and the court costs together, and a routine speeding ticket easily tops $150. A school bus violation or a DUI runs into several hundred dollars in fees before any criminal penalty.

Offenses That Suspend Your License Automatically

Several Title 75 offenses carry fixed suspensions on conviction, independent of the point system. Section 1532 lists them:⁵

One year: any vehicle-related felony, hit-and-run involving injury or death, aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI.
Three years: homicide by vehicle, with or without DUI involvement.
12 months: fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer.
Six months: reckless driving, racing on highways, careless driving, and leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage.
Three months: driving without required insurance and operating a vehicle while registration is suspended.²

DUI suspensions follow a separate schedule under Section 3804. A first-offense general impairment DUI carries no suspension. A first offense at higher BAC levels or involving controlled substances brings a 12-month suspension. First-degree misdemeanor and felony DUI offenses carry an 18-month suspension.³

Beyond suspension sits revocation, which terminates your driving privilege entirely and forces you to reapply and pass all licensing tests from scratch once the revocation period expires. Pennsylvania designates you a “habitual offender” after three convictions from separate incidents within five years for qualifying offenses, which include DUI, racing, hit-and-run, and certain suspended-license violations. Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition counts as a conviction for this purpose. The base revocation runs five years, with another two years added for each additional qualifying offense within five years.¹⁰

DUI Penalties in Detail

DUI is the most heavily penalized Title 75 category, and the sanctions scale sharply with your blood-alcohol level and prior record. Pennsylvania uses three tiers.³

General impairment (BAC 0.08 to 0.099): a first offense is an ungraded misdemeanor with six months of probation, a $300 fine, mandatory alcohol highway safety school, and no license suspension.
High BAC (0.10 to 0.159): a first offense means a minimum of 48 consecutive hours in jail, a fine between $500 and $5,000, alcohol highway safety school, and a 12-month license suspension.
Highest BAC (0.16 and above), controlled substances, or refusal of testing: a first offense carries at least 72 consecutive hours in jail, a fine between $1,000 and $5,000, alcohol highway safety school, and a 12-month license suspension.

Second and subsequent offenses at any tier raise the mandatory minimum jail time, raise the fines, and extend the suspension. A DUI with a minor in the vehicle adds a mandatory $1,000 fine and 100 hours of community service.³

Out-of-State Convictions on a Pennsylvania License

Pennsylvania joined the Driver License Compact in 1996. Under it, PennDOT treats a conviction in another member state as if it happened in Pennsylvania for four categories: vehicular manslaughter, DUI, hit-and-run involving injury or death, and any felony committed with a vehicle.¹¹

For minor out-of-state tickets like speeding or a red light, the conviction gets reported to PennDOT but does not appear on your Pennsylvania record and no points are assessed. Commercial driver’s license holders are the exception and face stricter reporting rules for all traffic violations regardless of where they occur.¹¹

Fighting the Citation

You don’t have to simply pay a summary citation and accept the points. You can plead not guilty and request a hearing before the magisterial district judge, where the prosecution has to prove the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.

If you’re convicted at that level, you have 30 days to appeal to the Court of Common Pleas. The appeal is a brand-new trial before a judge, not a review of the lower court’s record. Missing the 30 days doesn’t automatically end your options, but you’d need to petition the court to allow a late filing, and a judge decides whether to accept it.

Misdemeanor and felony Title 75 charges start with a preliminary hearing in the magisterial district court before moving to the Court of Common Pleas. Given the possibility of jail time and long license suspensions at that level, hiring an attorney matters much more. Even at the summary level, negotiating for a reduced charge that carries fewer or no points often saves money once insurance consequences are factored in.

1
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 75 – Penalties and Disposition of Fines
2
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 75 – Section 1786, Required Financial Responsibility
3
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 75 – Section 3804, Penalties
4
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 75 – Section 3742, Accidents Involving Death or Personal Injury
5
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 75 – Section 1532, Suspension of Operating Privilege
6
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. The Pennsylvania Point System Fact Sheet
7
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 75 – Section 1535, Schedule of Convictions and Points
8
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 75 – Section 1538, Suspension of Operating Privilege
9
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 75 – Section 3121, EMS Costs
10
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 75 – Section 1542, Revocation of Habitual Offenders License
11
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Driver License Compact FAQs