In New York State, points are cumulative within 18 months and will stay on your driving record for 39 months.
Taking a defensive driving class will not remove the points but will give you a credit of up to 4 points for points that are already on your record.
When you are convicted of a traffic violation in New York State that carries points, the DMV automatically assigns points to your driving record. As an aside, it is important to realize that it is DMV that applies points, not the courts. Many people think that they can plead guilty “with an explanation” and the judge will have mercy on them and decide to reduce or eliminate the points. This is not the case. Once a person pleads guilty or is convicted of an offense, the court sends a record of the conviction to DMV and they take care of applying the points. A judge has no discretion to reduce or forgo applying points because it is not within the power of the court to do so.
Getting back to the issue at hand, any points tacked onto your driving record will be cumulative for 18 months from the date of the traffic violation (not the date of conviction). This means that any points within a given 18 month period are counted towards the 11-point maximum such that if you get 11 points within an 18-month period you r NY driver's license can be suspended.
It is important to note that a record of the violations and the points associated with them remain on the driving record considerably longer than 18 months. A New York traffic violation conviction stays on the driver's record (otherwise known as the driving “abstract”) for 39 months. The reason this is important is that while points may no longer count toward your 11-point maximum after 18 months, since they remain on your record for 39 months, your auto insurance company will see them every time you go up for renewal and they run your driving record. That means that they can hit you with years of increased auto insurance premiums.
