Texas License Suspension Rules

convictions

Source: Texas Driver Handbook, Chapter 1: Your License to Drive, Administrative Suspensions and Revocations, p. 11 · Verified Sep 2026

Four moving-violation convictions from four separate incidents in 12 consecutive months makes you a habitual violator and the department suspends the license. The slower path counts too: seven convictions in 24 months does the same thing. A driver under 18 reaches the line at two moving violations in 12 months.

Source: Texas Transportation Code Sec. 521.292(a)(3) (the department shall suspend the license of a "habitual violator of the traffic laws") and Sec. 521.292(b): a person is a habitual violator with "four or more convictions that arise out of different transactions in 12 consecutive months, or seven or more convictions that arise out of different transactions in 24 months," for moving violations. Sec. 521.292(a)(8) sets the separate under-18 rule of two or more moving violations in a 12-month period. · Verified Sep 2026

Texas counts your moving-violation convictions over two windows at once, and either one can cost you the license. Four convictions inside 12 consecutive months makes you a habitual violator; so does seven inside 24 months. The convictions have to arise out of separate incidents, so one traffic stop that produces several tickets does not put four marks against you. Under 18 the count is far tighter: two moving violations in 12 months is enough.

Source: Texas Transportation Code Sec. 521.292(a)(3) (the department shall suspend the license of a "habitual violator of the traffic laws") and Sec. 521.292(b): a person is a habitual violator with "four or more convictions that arise out of different transactions in 12 consecutive months, or seven or more convictions that arise out of different transactions in 24 months," for moving violations. Sec. 521.292(a)(8) sets the separate under-18 rule of two or more moving violations in a 12-month period. · Verified Sep 2026

A DWI conviction triggers a license suspension in Texas independently of the repeated-violations rule. The handbook's Mandatory Suspension list places driving while intoxicated by alcohol or drugs at the top, meaning conviction automatically suspends the driver license and driving privilege. The court-imposed suspension runs 90 days to 1 year for a first offense, 180 days to 2 years for a second offense, and 180 days to 2 years for a third or subsequent offense (which is charged as a third-degree felony). Texas also applies an Administrative License Revocation (ALR) at the point of arrest, separate from any criminal DWI outcome: a driver 21 or older who fails a breath or blood test at 0.08 BAC or higher, or who refuses the test, is suspended administratively and owes a $125 reinstatement fee. A driver under 21 is subject to ALR for any detectable amount of alcohol.

Source: Texas Driver Handbook, Chapter 1, Mandatory Suspension (pp. 10-11) and Administrative License Revocation (p. 12); Chapter 10, Tables 30-31 (pp. 57-58) · Verified Sep 2026

The Texas Driver Handbook does not list reckless driving as a stand-alone mandatory-suspension offense. Because Texas suspends licenses on a conviction-count basis rather than a points basis, a reckless-driving conviction counts as one traffic conviction toward the DPS repeated-violations rule: DPS is authorized, after a hearing, to suspend a license once a driver accumulates four or more traffic convictions in any 12-month period, or seven or more in any 24-month period. Reckless driving does not, by itself, trigger an automatic suspension the way a DWI conviction does. Racing on a public highway or street is separately listed as a mandatory-suspension offense.

Source: Texas Driver Handbook, Chapter 1, Mandatory Suspension (pp. 10-11) and Administrative Suspensions and Revocations (p. 11) · Verified Sep 2026

The Texas Driver Handbook does not identify excessive speeding as a stand-alone mandatory-suspension offense. A speeding conviction counts as one traffic conviction under the DPS repeated-violations rule, which authorizes DPS to suspend a license after a hearing once a driver accumulates four or more traffic convictions in any 12-month period, or seven or more in any 24-month period. Racing a motor vehicle on a public highway or street is listed separately as a mandatory-suspension offense, but ordinary speeding, even well above the posted limit, does not by itself trigger an automatic suspension in Texas.

Source: Texas Driver Handbook, Chapter 1, Mandatory Suspension (pp. 10-11) and Administrative Suspensions and Revocations (p. 11); Chapter 8, Speed Limits (p. 46) · Verified Sep 2026