Violation Record Duration by State

Minor moving violations — speeding tickets under a certain threshold, failure to yield, improper lane changes — stay on your MVR for three years in most states. California, Texas, Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania all use a three-year window measured from the conviction date, not the violation date or payment date. Illinois and Georgia also apply three-year lookbacks for standard tickets. New York clears minor violations after 18 months, the shortest window in the country. Michigan holds them for two years. North Carolina keeps them for three years but assigns insurance points separately, which can extend surcharge duration even after the MVR clears. Virginia maintains a five-year lookback for most moving violations, and Massachusetts applies a six-year window for certain offenses. The conviction date starts the clock. If you contest a ticket and lose six months later, your three-year lookback begins the day the court enters the conviction, not the day you were pulled over. Paying the fine without contesting typically counts as a conviction on the payment date. Deferred adjudication or traffic school programs in some states prevent the conviction from appearing on your MVR entirely, which eliminates the lookback period altogether.

DUI, reckless driving, and leaving the scene of an accident trigger extended lookback periods in every state. Most states hold DUI convictions on your MVR for 10 years. California, Texas, Florida, and Ohio all apply 10-year windows for DUI. New York keeps DUI convictions for 10 years but allows certain first-time offenders to seal the record after a waiting period, which removes it from insurer view. Michigan, despite its shorter window for minor violations, keeps DUI on your record for life. The violation remains visible to insurers indefinitely. Georgia applies a seven-year lookback for DUI but maintains a separate lifetime record for license suspension purposes. North Carolina holds DUI for seven years on the MVR but applies a longer lookback for certain commercial driver classifications. Reckless driving typically stays on your record for five to seven years depending on state severity classification. At-fault accidents with injuries often remain visible for five to 10 years. Some states distinguish between property-damage-only accidents (three to five years) and injury accidents (seven to 10 years). Insurers treat major violations as higher-risk indicators, so even after the MVR clears, your rate may not return to clean-record pricing immediately if you've stayed with the same carrier throughout the lookback period.

The Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) is a national claims database maintained by LexisNexis. Insurers report every claim you file — at-fault accidents, not-at-fault accidents, comprehensive claims — and CLUE retains that data for seven years from the claim date. This runs parallel to your state MVR and often outlasts it. When you apply for coverage, most insurers pull both your MVR and your CLUE report. If your state clears an at-fault accident from your MVR after three years but the claim remains in CLUE for seven, the new insurer sees it and may apply a surcharge. Some carriers weigh CLUE data more heavily than MVR data because it reflects actual loss history, not just violations. You can request your own CLUE report once per year at no cost through LexisNexis. Reviewing it before shopping lets you see what insurers will see. Errors in CLUE — claims attributed to you incorrectly, duplicate entries, wrong fault determinations — can be disputed directly with LexisNexis. Correcting CLUE errors before applying for new coverage prevents surcharges based on inaccurate data.

The optimal shopping window opens the month your violation clears your MVR. Most insurers run a new MVR pull when you apply, so if the violation no longer appears, they underwrite you as a cleaner risk. Your current carrier likely won't remove the surcharge automatically — they apply it based on their internal lookback period, which may extend beyond the state MVR window. If your state uses a three-year lookback and you've been surcharged for a speeding ticket the entire time, shop for new coverage in month 37. Carriers pulling your MVR will see a clean record and quote you at a lower tier. Staying with your current insurer often means continuing the surcharge until their internal file clears, which can be five years or longer depending on the carrier. For major violations, the same principle applies but the timeline extends. If your state clears DUI after 10 years, shop immediately after clearance. Some carriers specialize in post-violation drivers and offer better rates than your current insurer even before the MVR clears, so getting quotes at year eight or nine can reveal whether switching early saves more than waiting for full clearance. The rate difference between a carrier that surcharged you at conviction and a competitor viewing you as a lower risk after several clean years can exceed 40 percent.

California: minor violations three years, DUI 10 years, at-fault accidents three years. Texas: minor violations three years, DUI 10 years, at-fault accidents five years. Florida: minor violations three years, DUI 10 years, at-fault accidents three to five years depending on severity. New York: minor violations 18 months, DUI 10 years, at-fault accidents three years. Ohio: minor violations three years, DUI 10 years, at-fault accidents five years. Michigan: minor violations two years, DUI lifetime, at-fault accidents three years. Pennsylvania: minor violations three years, DUI 10 years, at-fault accidents three years. Illinois: minor violations three years, DUI 10 years, at-fault accidents five years. Georgia: minor violations three years, DUI seven years, at-fault accidents five years. North Carolina: minor violations three years, DUI seven years, at-fault accidents three years with separate insurance point duration. Virginia: minor violations five years, DUI 11 years, at-fault accidents five years. Massachusetts: minor violations six years for surchargeable events, DUI 10 years, at-fault accidents six years. These windows reflect MVR retention under current state requirements; CLUE holds all claims for seven years regardless of state, and individual carrier lookback policies may extend beyond MVR clearance.