Virginia driver improvement clinic
Last reviewed: October 25, 2026
The hour length, the $100 cap, the 90-day deadline, and the 5-point credit are on Virginia DMV’s driver improvement page. Who is sent, and which reason earns points, is on the reasons for attending page and the age 18 and over and under 18 violation pages. The point cap and the choice between points and an insurance reduction are in § 46.2-498. The point totals that trigger a clinic are also on the demerit points page.
Who has to take one
Three different orders get people into the same eight-hour clinic. The paperwork is not the same, and neither is the point credit.
| Why you are going | What the order actually is |
|---|---|
| Court-ordered | The court has already directed you to complete a clinic. DMV says you are not court-directed if you have not been to court yet. Ask that court whether it will accept an online course. |
| DMV, point balance, age 18 or older | 12 demerit points in 12 months, or 18 points in 24 months. You must enroll and finish within 90 days. Miss that and DMV suspends your driving privilege until you finish. |
| Conviction at age 18 or 19 | A demerit-point conviction, or a safety-belt or child-restraint conviction, committed when you were 18 or 19. DMV requires a clinic for that conviction on its own, apart from the point-balance totals. |
| Under 18 | The first demerit-point conviction, or a safety-belt or child-restraint conviction, committed under 18. Finish within 90 days or DMV suspends the permit or license until the clinic is done. A second and third conviction are a different set of penalties, on the teen driver laws page. |
An advisory letter is not one of those orders. At 8 demerit points in 12 months, or 12 points in 24 months, DMV writes to warn you. The clinic order for an adult point balance starts at 12 points in 12 months or 18 points in 24 months. Eighteen points in 12 months, or 24 points in 24 months, is a 90-day suspension, and the clinic has to be finished before the privilege is restored.
If you hold a commercial driver’s license, or the offense was in a commercial motor vehicle, and you are required to attend, DMV says the clinic has to be a commercial driver improvement clinic. An online driver improvement clinic does not meet that commercial requirement.
If DMV required the clinic and you are in college outside Virginia, or you are military or a military dependent stationed outside Virginia, you may be able to extend the 90 days. DMV grants that extension only where no approved clinic is offered, and only until a break in your schedule.
The clinic is not the permit exam
If you are studying for the knowledge test as well, the free cheat sheet is a one-page summary of that exam.
Taking it when nobody ordered it
You can also attend because you want the safe driving points, or because your insurance company gives a discount for the clinic. Code § 46.2-498 lets a resident or nonresident with a valid Virginia license apply to a certified clinic and attend when there is room. Tell the clinic which of those two you want. The statute awards one or the other, not both, and not more than once in two years.
DMV’s insurance note is separate from the point credit. If you take the clinic to reduce a premium, you do not get safe driving points. If a court assigns the clinic, you are not eligible for that premium reduction.
Insurance discount for drivers 55 and older
This is a different course from the eight-hour clinic, and it is not one of the five clinics listed below.
Virginia DMV’s insurance-discount page says insurers offer a rate reduction to policyholders 55 and older who voluntarily finish a classroom or online motor vehicle crash prevention course. That page says to ask your agent whether your company offers the benefit before you enroll. DMV’s mature driver page says a mature operator safety course does not earn safe driving points. Code § 38.2-2217 is the statute on that reduction. This page does not state a percentage.
IMPROV’s Aware Driver Virginia page describes a Mature Driver Improvement course taken online for an insurance discount, for drivers 55 and older. Confirm eligibility and any discount with your insurer before you pay.
The 5 safe driving points
DMV’s driver improvement page says you may be awarded 5 safe driving points, once every 24 months, after you successfully complete a clinic. Five is also the highest safe driving point balance the record can hold. One safe driving point for a clean calendar year is a different credit. Those yearly points are posted in early April, and they are not the clinic’s five.
Section 46.2-498 describes the clinic credit as five demerit points subtracted when you already have at least five. If you have fewer than five demerit points, the statute reduces what you have and may award safe driving points, still capped at five. On a voluntary clinic you choose that credit or the premium reduction under § 38.2-2217. You do not receive both, and you do not receive the same benefit again inside two years. The statute lets a voluntary driver come back for the benefit they did not take, one year after finishing.
The reason you give the clinic decides whether the five points are actually posted:
| Reason DMV uses | Safe driving points |
|---|---|
| Voluntary | Awarded |
| DMV-required, age 18 or older | Awarded |
| DMV-required, under 18 | Not awarded |
| Court-required | Only if a court document says to award them, and the clinic receives it |
| Insurance discount | Not awarded |
The under-18 violations page states the young-driver case in one line: 5 safe driving points for a voluntary clinic, and no points when DMV or a court required the attendance. Bring the court paper to the clinic before you expect points from a court order. DMV will not award them if the clinic never receives it.
Online or in a classroom
DMV offers the eight-hour clinic at sites around the state and online. The online course is at least eight hours. You have to be able to work on your own and use a computer. People of any age may take it through a DMV-licensed online clinic. The age 18-and-over page says the required clinic can be online or in a classroom. The under-18 page says the same thing.
If you take it online, the final exam is online with the provider you registered with. No paper test. You may attempt that test only once each business day, and the provider checks your identity during the course and again before the exam. If you take the clinic in person, the final test is in person. DMV does not record which provider you chose until you finish, so keep the name and the web address yourself.
A court does not have to accept an online certificate. That check is yours, before you pay. The clinic search is the way to find a classroom near you if the court wants one, and DMV suggests scheduling ahead when a 90-day clock is running.
The clinic has to be DMV-approved
“Driver improvement” on a website is not a license. DMV licenses the clinics and keeps the list. Open Search Clinics and Schools and filter to Online Clinic, or start from the online clinic filter. The same directory lists in-person clinics if you clear that filter. The online clinic page uses that search.
A computer-based curriculum vendor is a different list. Vendors supply course material. The clinic you pay is the licensed provider. Driver education for a first license is a separate list from both of those. A clinic does not stand in for that program, and it does not stand in for the driver’s manual course required after three failed knowledge exams. Those rules are on the three-failure page and the driver’s ed checker.
DMV-listed online clinics
These five names were on the Online Clinic filter on October 25, 2026. The links go to each clinic’s own site. Safe2Drive’s directory record uses safe2drive.com. The link below is that provider’s Virginia course page, which DMV also prints for Safe2Drive on the computer-based curriculum vendor list. AAA1 American Institute for Public Safety is the name on the clinic record. The link uses that record’s myImprov host. A page on that host is not, by itself, a court order, a safe-driving-point award, or an insurance discount. The 55-and-older course above is a separate page.
This is a sample, not a ranking and not the whole directory. A listing can be added or removed. Search the directory again before you pay.
Affiliate disclosure: a link marked as an affiliate link may earn VADrivingTest.com a commission if you enroll through it. That commission does not change which clinics Virginia DMV lists, and it does not change the fee the clinic charges.
- I Drive Safely, LLC
- A&A Safe2Drive
- DriveSafeToday.com, Inc. (affiliate link). Enter code QUL0221 at checkout for $3 off.
- AAA1 American Institute for Public Safety
- AAA Club Alliance
After you finish
When you sign up, tell the clinic your reason, show a government-issued photo ID, and hand over the court document if the court is awarding points. Clinics have to report completion to DMV electronically within 24 hours. That report is how DMV hears you finished. It is not a promise that a court will accept the certificate. If the court ordered the clinic, ask the clerk what the court wants from you and by when.
If DMV ordered the clinic, the clock is the 90 days on the notice. Finish inside it, or the privilege is suspended until you do. Comments about a course go to DMV at 1-877-885-5790, the number printed on the online clinic page.
If you still need the knowledge exam
A clinic is defensive-driving instruction for people who already have a permit or a license. It is not the knowledge exam, and a practice score here is not a DMV result. When the exam is the thing in front of you, start the free practice test. The session that uses DMV’s 10-sign and 30-question split is the Virginia DMV practice test.
Questions people ask
Can I take the Virginia driver improvement clinic online?
Yes, if the provider is a DMV-licensed online driver improvement clinic. DMV says the course and the final test both have to be completed online with that provider. A court may still refuse an online certificate, so ask the court before you enroll in an online clinic for a court order. An online clinic does not meet the commercial driver improvement clinic requirement.
How many safe driving points can the clinic add, and how often?
Virginia DMV says you may be awarded 5 safe driving points once every 24 months after you successfully complete a driver improvement clinic. The highest safe driving point balance on the record is 5. A voluntary clinic awards the points. A DMV-required clinic awards them for drivers 18 and older, and does not award them for drivers under 18. A court-required clinic awards them only if the court says so in writing and the clinic receives that document. Taking the clinic for an insurance discount awards no safe driving points.
Who has to take a driver improvement clinic for points?
If you are 18 or older, DMV requires a clinic at 12 demerit points in 12 months or 18 points in 24 months, and you have 90 days to finish it. A conviction for a demerit-point violation, or a safety-belt or child-restraint violation, committed at age 18 or 19 also requires a clinic. Under 18, the first conviction of that kind requires a clinic within 90 days. An advisory letter, at 8 points in 12 months or 12 points in 24 months, is not a clinic order.
What if a court ordered the clinic?
DMV’s court-required reason applies only after you have been to court. The court decides whether you get safe driving points, and the clinic needs the court’s document before DMV can award them. The court also may or may not accept an online course. For a driver under 18, DMV’s violations page says safe driving points are not awarded when a court required the clinic.
How do I check that an online clinic is DMV-approved?
Use Virginia DMV’s Search Clinics and Schools page and filter it to Online Clinic. The provider has to be on that list. A course that only says it is approved on its own website is not enough, and a driver-education school is not the same thing as a driver improvement clinic.
How much does the clinic cost?
DMV says a clinic may charge no more than $100. DMV does not publish one statewide price below that cap, so the fee you pay is whatever that licensed clinic charges, up to $100.
Sources
- Virginia DMV, Driver improvement
- Virginia DMV, Complete an online driving improvement clinic
- Virginia DMV, Reasons for attending a driver improvement course
- Virginia DMV, Driver improvement clinics
- Virginia DMV, Search clinics and schools, online clinic filter
- Virginia DMV, Computer-based driver improvement curriculum vendors
- Virginia DMV, Traffic violations, drivers age 18 and over
- Virginia DMV, Traffic violations, drivers under age 18
- Virginia DMV, The points system
- Code of Virginia § 46.2-498
- Virginia DMV, Insurance discounts for drivers age 55 and older
- Virginia DMV, Mature driver safety
- Code of Virginia § 38.2-2217
Jamie Carter, VADrivingTest.com Team. Not affiliated with the Virginia DMV.