Demerit points
Demerit points are tallied against a threshold in a rolling window. Two things about that tally catch almost everybody out: the whole set expires together rather than entry by entry, and a licence suspended at the threshold does not come back by itself when the period ends.
- 100 pointsThe threshold that suspends a licences 90(1)
- 2 yearsThe rolling window they are counted overand the whole set expires together
- 3 monthsHow long the suspension lastss 90(3)(a) — and it does not lift by itself
Before anything else
A camera ticket did not give you demerit points
It is the first thing to rule out, because it changes what the rest of this page is about.
The answer most people are looking for
A speed camera ticket carries the fee — and no demerit points
Detected by a speed camera
$80
0 demerit points
The points schedule would give 20 for this band — but reg 6(3)(b) does not allow points to be recorded for an offence detected by approved vehicle surveillance equipment at all. So the fee is the whole consequence.
Stopped by an enforcement officer
$80
20 demerit points
Identical speed, identical fee. Because the offence was not detected by that equipment, the schedule’s points are recorded against the licence in the ordinary way.
Land Transport (Offences and Penalties) Regulations 1999, reg 6(3)(b) — figures shown at 11 km/h over the limit
Your tally
Where a new offence would put you
Add what a new offence would record to what is already on the licence, and read the status against the threshold.
Your tally
Only points still in effect count. The whole recorded set expires together — see the note below the result.
The speeding page works this out for a speeding offence; other offences carry their own figures in the schedule.
This selects which word the Act uses at the threshold — “suspended” or “disqualified”. The period is the same either way.
Where that puts you
Points recorded
10
Running total
10 / 100
Status
under threshold
90 more would reach it
The tally is counted over a rolling window, and the whole recorded set expires together rather than entry by entry — a new offence moves the expiry date of everything already on it.
What this means
- Demerit points counted: 10. Below the notice figure the Act does nothing at all: there is no warning zone, no intermediate step and no partial consequence between zero and the notice, or between the notice and the threshold. Any “you are getting close” reading is arithmetic somebody did, not a rule the Land Transport Act 1998 states.
What this calculator does and does not do
- This is not your record. It asks for no driver licence number, no notice reference, no date of birth and no plate, and it holds nothing — your own record is held by NZTA.
- The expiry clock is not per-entry. Section 91(1) expires the whole entry two years after the MOST RECENT offence in it, so a new offence inside the window extends everything already recorded rather than only adding to it.
- Two offences from one stop do not add up. Where they arise out of the same set of circumstances, points are recorded for one of them only — the one carrying the greatest number (s 88(3)).
Speeding
What each speeding band records
These are the figures the schedule gives. Whether any of them is actually recorded is the camera question above.
← swipe to see the whole table →
| Item | How far over the limit | Demerit points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Speeding offence in which the speed limit fixed is exceeded by not more than 10 km/h1–10 km/h over | 10 |
| 2 | Speeding offence in which the speed limit fixed is exceeded by more than 10 km/h but not more than 20 km/h11–20 km/h over | 20 |
| 3 | Speeding offence in which the speed limit fixed is exceeded by more than 20 km/h but not more than 30 km/h21–30 km/h over | 35 |
| 4 | Speeding offence in which the speed limit fixed is exceeded by more than 30 km/h but not more than 35 km/h31–35 km/h over | 40 |
| 5 | Speeding offence in which the speed limit fixed is exceeded by more than 35 km/hmore than 35 km/h over — no upper bound stated | 50 |
Source — Land Transport (Offences and Penalties) Regulations 1999 (SR 1999/99), Schedule 2 Part 2 — from 27 February 2005 (reg 6(1) operative-start date; no later Part 2 amendment footnote found)
How long they last
The whole tally expires together, not one entry at a time
This is the single most misunderstood rule in the New Zealand demerit system, and it is the difference between points quietly falling off and points never falling off at all.
Section 91(1) says the entry ceases to have effect 2 years after the offence — but where points were recorded for two or more offences, the entry ceases when 2 years have passed since the most recent of them. The clock is not per-entry. It belongs to the whole set, and it anchors on whichever offence is newest.
A driver who keeps committing point-carrying offences inside the window therefore never has any of their older points expire, because the anchor keeps moving forward. A new offence does not simply add to the tally; it extends the life of everything already on it.
A worked example
- Two offences arising out of one stop record 20 points, not the sum of both — s 88(3) records points for one offence only, the one carrying the greatest number.
- With an older offence still on the tally, the total in effect is 55 points against the 100-point threshold.
- Nothing on that tally expires until 10 August 2027 — the date driven by the newest offence, not by the oldest.
A different mechanism entirely
A suspension or a long disqualification cancels everything outright
Source — Land Transport Act 1998 (1998 No 110), ss 89-91 — as at 19 May 2026 (LTA 1998 consolidation stamp)
At the threshold
What happens at the threshold, and what does not happen afterwards
There is one step before it and one step after it, and both are commonly left out.
- A warning notice is due at 50 pointsThe Agency must send it (s 89(1)). Not receiving it does not make a later suspension invalid (s 89(2)) — the notice is a duty owed to you, not a precondition of the consequence.
- At 100 points the licence stops workingFor 3 months. The Act calls it a suspension where you hold a current licence, and a disqualification where you do not — see the note below.
- It does not come back by itself(b) remains of no effect when the period of suspension ends until the person applies to the Director to have the licence reinstated and the Director reinstates the licence.
Not settled by the text
“Suspended” and “disqualified” are the Act’s own two words
Your actual record
This site cannot tell you how many points you have
It holds no records, has no connection to any authority, and asks for no identifiers of any kind.
The official service
Check your demerit points
NZTA
The transport agency holds the driver licence register, including the demerit points currently recorded against a licence. It is the only authority on what is actually on yours.
This site never asks for a driver licence number, a notice reference, a date of birth or a plate, and it renders no lookup form. Use the service above.
Check your demerit points