Questions about the courses

No. DMV says completing a PIRP course does not remove a violation, conviction, or the points from your driving record. Point reduction means DMV subtracts 4 points when it calculates a suspension if you have 11 or more points. The tickets stay on the record. After the sponsor reports your completion, DMV reduces the active points used in that calculation by up to 4 points, and the total cannot go below zero.

Successful completion provides a 10% reduction, for three years, in the base rate of your current automobile liability, no-fault, and collision premiums. You must be the principal operator of the insured vehicle. DMV’s PIRP page also says the course reduces the base rate of auto and motorcycle insurance premiums by 10% each year for three years. It does not stop other premium increases, including increases from violations or crashes, and it is not a quote of dollars saved.

For point reduction, once in an 18-month period, even if you do not use the point benefit. For the insurance reduction, DMV says you must take the course once every 36 months to keep the benefit. Taking it more often than once every three years does not improve on the 10% reduction.

Advertising for this course has to say that it is 6 hours long. DMV’s internet-course page says an I-PIRP course includes 320 minutes of instruction. You may finish it in as many sessions as you need, and you must finish within 30 days of registration. DMV requires timers so the instruction time is actually spent. American Safety Institute says its New York course is self-paced on a computer, phone, or tablet and that progress is saved.

You contact the insurer and give them the completion certificate. DMV says the sponsor mails that certificate by regular mail within 14 business days, and that an email copy is not valid and will not be accepted by your insurance company. If you present it within 90 days of completion, the liability and collision reduction starts immediately, retroactive to the completion date. After 90 days, the insurer may start the discount on the date you present the certificate. The sponsor notifies DMV within 10 weeks, and DMV then reduces active points by up to 4.

No. The course does not remove the conviction. It does not affect a license that is already suspended or revoked, a violation hearing that is already scheduled, or a mandatory suspension or revocation, including DWI, DWAI, or three speeding violations within 18 months. It also does not prevent or reduce a driver responsibility assessment.

If more than one person named on the policy completes the course, only the principal operator can receive the 10% reduction. DMV says youthful drivers and drivers in the assigned risk pool receive the discount when they are the principal operator. Ask your insurer if a driver who already has a driver-education reduction can also receive the PIRP reduction.

Yes, for the internet course to post to a New York license record. DMV says that if you do not have a New York State DMV ID number (client ID) from your New York driver license, the completion cannot be applied to your license record. Use your name exactly as it appears on the license.

No. Those benefits belong to the 6-hour Point and Insurance Reduction Program. The 5-hour pre-licensing course is a knowledge course many new drivers must finish before a road test. It does not give hands-on driving lessons.

DMV says you can take the online pre-licensing course if you are at least 18, you have a valid New York State photo learner permit, and you have a device that connects to the internet. You must already have a valid New York learner permit before you start any format of the course. American Safety Institute says its online course is for students 18 or older with a valid Class D New York learner permit that includes a photo, and that it does not apply to junior license applicants.

Not from the online course. DMV says online students do not receive an MV-278. The provider reports completion electronically, usually within 48 hours. After it is on your permit record, you can schedule the road test online or by calling 1-518-402-2100. The scheduling system will not ask for a certificate, and you do not show one at the road test. Classroom and live distance-learning students do receive an MV-278, which is valid for one year and must be valid on the day you make the road test appointment.

The online course is only for people 18 or older. Classroom and live distance-learning pre-licensing courses start at age 16. If you have a Class DJ or MJ learner permit, DMV also requires at least 50 hours of supervised practice, including 15 hours after sunset, a signed Certification of Supervised Driving (MV-262), and a wait of at least six months from the permit date before you schedule the road test.

DMV says new drivers must complete the pre-licensing course before a road test and a license unless they complete the state’s 48-hour driver education program through a high school or college. A student certificate of completion of driver education is valid for two years. You also do not need a pre-licensing certificate if you already have a valid New York license and you are only changing to another license class.

DMV describes the pre-licensing course as approximately 5 hours of instruction. American Safety Institute says its online course provides a minimum of 5 hours, cannot be finished faster because of timers, requires 70% or higher on the content questions for each topic, has no final exam, and must be finished within 30 days of registration or you start over.

No. New York’s 10% base-rate reduction is a New York PIRP rule. New Jersey law requires insurers to include an appropriate premium reduction for an MVC-approved defensive driving course, in an amount justified by the insurer’s own actuarial experience. This site does not state a New Jersey percentage because the statute does not fix one.

MVC says two points may be removed from the points you currently have, only for a state-approved New Jersey defensive driving curriculum. You can receive that two-point reduction only once every five years, and only if you have points on your record when you finish. MVC tells you to check with the provider before you register.

No. MVC says a defensive driving course is voluntary. It is not a substitute for the Probationary Driver Program, and it is not the Driver Improvement Program offered in place of a suspension. If you received a notice for either remedial program, follow that notice.

MVC says the provider notifies MVC within 7 to 10 business days and that a certificate from the license holder is not acceptable for that point credit. American Safety Institute says it sends New Jersey completions to MVC electronically and also gives you a printable proof of completion. For insurance, the named insured or principal operator should ask the insurer. The reduction, when it applies, runs for three years starting with the next policy period, and it ends sooner if your license is suspended or you accumulate four or more motor vehicle points.