Demerit Points, Accumulated Points, and Penalty Points
Demerit Points
- Demerit points are issued to indicate the level of severity of an infringement or damage, and are referenced in administrative processing. (No. 1-a-(1) of Attached Table 28 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Road Traffic Act)
Accumulated Points
- Accumulated points are calculated by subtracting an upper bound (points issued for a time period without infringements and accidents) from accumulated demerit points. (No. 1-a-(2) of Attached Table 28 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Road Traffic Act)
- Accumulated points = Sum of the accumulated demerit points imposed by violating traffic laws and regulations or causing traffic accidents - the upper bound
Penalty Points
- Penalty points are demerit points given as a penalty for an infringement or accident, and are calculated by subtracting from accumulated demerit points for which a penalty has already been applied. (No. 1-a-(3) of Attached Table 28 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Road Traffic Act)
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Penalty points
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= Accumulated points processed demerit points
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= Demerit points accumulated from infringement and accidents upper bound processed demerit points
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Processing of Demerit Points
Management of Accumulated Demerit Points
- All demerit points incurred from traffic infringements and accidents in the last three years are accumulated. (No. 1-b-(1) of Attached Table 28 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Road Traffic Act)
Expiration of Penalty Points; Upper Bound of Penalty Points
Expiration of Demerit Points After an Infringement/Accident-free Period
- If the penalty points are less than 40, the points will expire 1 year after the date of the last infringement or accident if no infringements or accidents occur within that one-year period. (No. 1-b-(2) of Attached Table 28 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Road Traffic Act)
Deduction of Demerit Points for Report of Hit-and-run Drivers
- For each report or direct capture of a hit-and-run driver responsible for an accident resulting in injury or death that leads to the apprehension of the hit-and-run driver (you cannot be the victim of the accident), 40 reward points will be issued. Reward points have no expiry date and are deducted from demerit points associated with the suspension or cancelation of a driver's license. Deductions are made in 40-point units. (No. 1-b-(3)-a of Attached Table 28 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Road Traffic Act)
Good Driving Mileage Program
- A driver who makes and keeps a pledge of no infringements and accidents for one full year is given 10 reward points. The reward points do not expire and are deducted from accumulated demerit points when his or her driver's license is suspended. Deductions are made in 10-point units. (No. 1-b-(3)-b of Attached Table 28 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Road Traffic Act)
Reduction of penalty points and suspension period by Special Traffic Safety Education (No. 1-d of Attached Table 28 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Road Traffic Act)
- A driver with less than 40 penalty points can receive a deduction of 20 points by submitting to the police a certificate verifying that the driver has completed a special traffic safety educational program.
- A driver with a suspended driver's license can have his or her suspension period reduced by 20 days when a certificate is submitted at a police station after completing the traffic knowledge education. No additional deduction is applied if a deduction of suspension period has already been applied for a given infringement by the Driver's License Administrative Penalty Appeal Review Committee, or through an administrative lawsuit.
- A driver with a suspended driver's license or with a driver’s license soon to be suspended can receive a 30-day deduction from his or her suspension period by submitting a certificate to the police station verifying that the driver has completed a special traffic safety education and law compliance education program. No additional deductions can be applied if a deduction of the suspension period has already been applied for the given infringement by the Driver's License Administrative Penalty Appeal Review Committee, or through other administrative actions.
Reduction of suspension period of model drivers (a driver with no accident history, a recipient of honorable driver recognition, or an individual who does traffic safety volunteer work) (No. 1-d of Attached Table 28 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Road Traffic Act)
- Suspension period of a model driver, a driver with no accident history, a recipient of honorable driver recognition, or an individual who does traffic safety volunteer work, will be reduced by half. However, no reduction is applied if his or her penalty points include demerit points that caused a traffic accident.
Cancelation of Demerit Points
Acquittal from a Traffic Accident
- Acquittal (non-prosecution disposition) from a charge of traffic accident or infringement results in the immediate cancelation of any administrative penalty applied to a driver's license, and penalty points received for said accident or infringement are removed. (No. 1-e of Attached Table 28 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Road Traffic Act)
- Demerit points are not removed if an acquittal is based on ineligibility for a driver's license due to mental illness, epilepsy, or addiction to controlled substances or alcohol. (No. 1-e of Attached Table 28 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Road Traffic Act)
Mitigation of Driver's License Cancelation or Suspension
Grounds for a mitigation of driver's license cancelation or suspension (No. 1-f of Attached Table 28 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Road Traffic Act)
- Driver's license cancelation or suspension for drunk driving
· To qualify, driving must be your livelihood, you must have been involved in traffic volunteer work for at least three years, or you must be a recipient of a commendation from the chief of a police station or higher for contributing to the arrest of a hit-and-run driver. You must also have never been convicted of any of the following offenses.
√ Driving with a blood alcohol content of over 0.1%
√ Drunk driving and causing an accident resulting in injury or death
√ Refusal of a breathalyzer test by a police officer; running away; assault on a police officer
√ History of more than three traffic accidents resulting in injury or death in the last five years
√ History of drunk driving in the last five years
- Driver's license cancelation due to accumulated demerit points
· To qualify, driving must be your livelihood, you must have been involved in traffic volunteer work for at least three years, or you must be a recipient of a commendation from the chief of a police station or higher for contributing to the arrest of a hit-and-run driver. You must also have never been convicted of any of the following offenses.
√ Driver's license cancelation in the last five years
√ History of more than three traffic accidents resulting in injury or death in the last five years
√ History of more than three driver's license suspensions in the last five years
√ History of a deduction of suspension period by the Driver's License Administrative Penalty Appeal Review Committee or through an administrative lawsuit in the last five years
- If cancelation or suspension of driver's license is unreasonable due to an unavoidable reason existing for the failure to apply for an extension for a regular aptitude test or driver's license renewal.
Mitigation Criteria
- If the penalty for an infringement is cancelation of driver's license, 110 penalty points are issued for the infringement. In the event of a suspension of a driver's license, the penalty is reduced by half.
- If a driver's license is canceled due to accumulated demerit points, the sum of all accumulated demerit points and penalty points is set to 110 points.
Processing
- If you are eligible for the mitigation described above, you must make an appeal to the commissioner of a district police agency with jurisdiction over the address within 60 days after the date of the issue of administrative penalty. The commissioner of a district police agency may mitigate your penalty after a review and deliberation by the Driver's License Administrative Penalty Appeal Review Committee.