Stiff Surcharges, Fines, & Fees For Moving Violations And New Jersey DWI

New Jersey’s Department of Motor Vehicles is now known as the Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC), and it is this entity that places penalties on your license, in the form of points, for moving violations. If a driver accumulates six points or more within a period of three years surcharges will be assessed. Surcharges are imposed for other traffic violations as well, such as a New Jersey DWI or refusing to submit breath samples for testing. These costs can be very high and, if you fail to pay them, can also lead to an indefinite driver’s license suspension.

You’ll have to pay a $150 surcharge if you accumulate six points on your license within a three-year period; there will be a $25 additional charge for each point on your license over 6 points. Just one DWI, or one refusal to take a breath test, can each lead to $1,000 a year in surcharges for three years, totaling $3,000 in fees. A (2nd) second DWI can lead to another $3,000 slap ($1,000 for three years), and a third DWI conviction leads to $1,500 extra costs per year, for a total of $4,500. Even if you’re convicted of DWI in another state or you refuse to take a breath test in another State (provided they are similar in nature to the same violations in New Jersey), you’ll still have to pay the New Jersey surcharges! That’s because New Jersey and many other States have signed the Interstate Compact Agreement. Any violation occurring in one of the member States will be reported to the violator’s home state. For example, if you’re visiting Pennsylvania and are convicted of a DUI in that State, you will still have to pay the $1,000 DWI New Jersey surcharge for a period of three years.

Other lesser offenses than a New Jersey (NJ) DWI still warrant a surcharge, including: unlicensed driving will receive a $100 surcharge for three years (for a total of $300); a driver who is caught with a revoked license will receive a $250 surcharge for three years (for a total of $750); a driver with no insurance on a Moped will receive a $100 surcharge for three years (for a total of $300); and a driver with no insurance on any sort of motor vehicle will receive a $250 surcharge for 3 years (for a total of $750). Even administrative violations (which aren’t dependent upon any conviction) have to pay a New Jersey MVC / DMV fine.

And don’t think you can get away without having to pay these fines, fees, and surcharges – your license will be suspended if you don’t. You can set up a payment plan if need be, but you will have to pay these surcharges – no matter what. And if they are not paid on time, they become all due in full, immediately. If the fines are still not paid, a New Jersey Superior Court judgment will be brought against the driver, which may include interest and a 20% collection fee of the total fees, or $200, whichever is greater.

And if a driver is caught while driving on a suspended license because of the failure to pay, that driver is subject to enhanced penalties. Not only will the driver be subject to the normal sanctions of driving with a revoked license, but a $3,000 fine will also be imposed.