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Court Delta

Estimate North Carolina (NC) driver's-licence points for traffic charges

estimate_license_points
Read-only

Driver's-licence points under G.S. 20-16(c) — a COMPARATOR, not a lookup.

Returns what each possible outcome would cost: convicted as charged, reduced to improper equipment, prayer for judgment, or dismissed. That comparison is the useful answer; a single number is not. Fast — no court-portal request.

LICENCE POINTS ONLY. Insurance (SDIP) points are a SEPARATE system with different values, set by the Rate Bureau rather than statute, and are NOT included. If someone asks what a ticket will do to their premium, say this tool doesn't cover that.

THE PJC SCENARIO'S ZERO HAS TWO EXCEPTIONS and you must state them. Under G.S. 20-4.01(4a) a prayer for judgment counts as a CONVICTION — so it does carry points — if it is the THIRD OR SUBSEQUENT PJC within any five-year period, or for ANY PJC where the driver holds a CDL or the offence was in a commercial vehicle. Prior PJC history is not in court records here, so the 0 assumes neither applies.

unmatched[] LISTS CHARGES THAT COULD NOT BE SCORED — always mention them. The schedule has a real "All other moving violations = 2" row, so a charge that matched the catch-all (viaCatchAll: true) and one we failed to classify are different things; do not let a total silently omit either.

Non-Chapter-20 charges score nothing at all — a drug or assault charge is not a traffic offence and gets no points. Non-moving violations (improper equipment, parking, inspection, registration, adult seat belt) are 0, which is why "reduce to improper equipment" is the standard outcome people seek.

SPEEDING TURNS ON ABSOLUTE SPEED, not how far over the limit: the schedule row is "speeding in excess of 55 mph = 3". 50-in-a-45 is 2, not 3. Pass actual_speed when known — without it a speeding charge cannot be scored and lands in unmatched.

POINTS ARE NOT THE WHOLE CONSEQUENCE OF A SPEEDING CONVICTION. Check excessiveSpeedingSuspension and report it whenever it applies. G.S. 20-16.1(a) mandates a 30-DAY LICENCE SUSPENSION, imposed by the Division without a preliminary hearing, on conviction of either (i) more than 15 mph over the limit while ALSO above 55 mph, or (ii) any speed above 80 mph. This is separate from and additional to points. An 85-in-a-65 is only 3 points but ALSO costs the licence for 30 days — reporting the 3 alone is a true number that leaves a false impression. Pass speed_limit as well as actual_speed: without the limit, branch (i) cannot be assessed and the tool abstains (determinable: false) rather than implying there is no suspension.

That suspension attaches only ON CONVICTION, so a reduction, PJC or dismissal avoids it — which is usually the single biggest factor in the comparison, bigger than the points.

G.S. 20-16.1(b)(1): on a FIRST conviction only, the trial judge "may when feasible" allow a limited driving privilege for purposes reasonably connected with the HEALTH, EDUCATION AND WELFARE of the person convicted and their family. There is no listed "work" privilege — employment is commonly argued under welfare, so do not describe it as a work privilege as though the statute named one. The permit is valid for 30 days from issuance and the judge may restrict days, hours, vehicle types and routes.

THIS TOOL CANNOT TELL WHETHER IT WOULD BE A FIRST CONVICTION — prior convictions are not in the record, so the seven-year look-back cannot be applied. The privilege is discretionary and conditioned on feasibility. Answer "you can ask the court", never "yes, you will get one". Do NOT import limited-privilege rules from the DWI statute (G.S. 20-179.3); there is no "hard suspension period" concept in G.S. 20-16.1.

SUSPENSION FOR ACCUMULATED POINTS is a different mechanism again, with TWO thresholds (G.S. 20-16(a)(5)): 12 points in three years, and 8 in the three years after a licence is reinstated. Pass priorPoints and recentlyReinstated if the user knows them — neither is in any court record, so without them no suspension assessment is made.

Set commercialLicense or outOfStateLicense and the tool REFUSES rather than guessing: a separate, higher schedule applies to CDL holders, and an out-of-state conviction is assessed by the licensing state under the Driver Licence Compact.

Informational, not legal advice. Whether a reduction or PJC is actually available is a decision for the District Attorney and the court.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema
NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
chargesYes
priorPointsNo
commercialLicenseNo
outOfStateLicenseNo
recentlyReinstatedNo

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema
NameRequiredDescriptionDefault

No arguments

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections. Dates show when Glama detected each change.

  1. First observed

TDQS

A4.7/5.0
Behavior5/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

This goes far beyond the readOnlyHint by disclosing that PJC is zero only absent two exceptions, that unmatched[] must always be reported, that excessiveSpeedingSuspension is a separate mandatory 30-day suspension, that the tool abstains with determinable:false when speed_limit is missing, and that it refuses CDL/out-of-state cases rather than guessing. There is no contradiction with the annotations.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness4/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

The description is long, but it is sectioned and front-loaded with the core comparator behavior and outcome list. Each major caveat is signposted with uppercase headers, making it navigable, though some legal background could be trimmed without losing essential meaning.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

For a high-complexity legal estimator, the description is complete: it covers scope, exclusions, exceptions, required parameter combinations, and output caveats such as unmatched[] and determinable:false. Since an output schema exists, the description does not need to repeat return-value details.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters5/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Despite the 0% schema description coverage, the description explains the meaningful behavior of the key parameters: actual_speed and speed_limit are required for speeding charges, priorPoints and recentlyReinstated drive the two accumulation thresholds, and commercialLicense and outOfStateLicense cause refusal. It also adds legal context to the charges object (catch-all versus unmatched) that the schema does not provide.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

The description states a specific verb and resource: it estimates NC driver's-licence points under G.S. 20-16(c) and immediately defines itself as 'a COMPARATOR, not a lookup.' It also clearly scopes itself to licence points only, which helps distinguish it from insurance-point questions and other traffic-related sibling tools.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines4/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

The description gives explicit when-not guidance: insurance SDIP points are excluded, non-Chapter-20 charges score nothing, non-moving violations score zero, and CDL or out-of-state license holders are refused. It does not explicitly name an alternative sibling tool, but the context is clear enough for an agent to route the request correctly.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

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