How long is the North Dakota defensive driving course?

How long is our course?

Four hours. It's eight modules with a three-question check after each of the first seven, then a 25-question final quiz. Eighteen correct passes, and retakes are free. What the course covers.

Does North Dakota set a minimum?

Not anywhere a driver can read it. NDCC 39-06.1-13 refers to "the necessary hours of driver training instruction" without giving a number. NDDOT's points reduction page lists approved courses with no hours next to them, and its refresher courses page gives none either.

Providers state their own lengths. As of October 5, 2026:

Course	Length
Most online courses on NDDOT's list	4 hours
North Dakota Safety Council, classroom	4 hours
North Dakota Safety Council, online	5 hours
Alive at 25, distance learning	4.5 hours

The Safety Council also lists an 8-hour course, Attitudinal Dynamics of Driving, among the ones it says qualify for point reduction. NDDOT's list doesn't name an 8-hour course. The points are the same whichever length you take.

Can I split it over several days?

Yes. Ours saves your place when you leave, on a phone or a computer, and picks up where you stopped. There's no limit on how many sittings.

Is there a deadline to finish?

Only if you elected the course at court in lieu of points. Then NDDOT must have proof of completion "within thirty days after the individual notifies the court of the election" (NDCC 39-06.1-10.1). Four hours fits inside that with room to spare. Leave time to email the certificate to drs@nd.gov. The 30-day deadline.

For the 3-point reduction on points already on your record, the statute sets no deadline.

How long until NDDOT takes the points off?

NDDOT doesn't publish a processing time. Send the certificate when you pass, then check your driving record. If you're at 12 points or more when NDDOT gets it, the reduction is applied after you serve the suspension, per 39-06.1-13(2).

How long does the reduction last?

It's a cut to your point total, not a credit that expires. New violations add points from the lower number. You can do it again once 12 months have passed, up to 9 points in any three years. How often you can take it.

Who shouldn't spend the four hours?

Drivers with 0 or 1 point. A 0-point ticket, such as 10 over where the limit is 65 or less, has nothing to remove, and 1 point comes off by itself after three months with no new points.

If you have 3 or more points, the course is 4 hours online for $24.99. Start it here.

Last reviewed October 5, 2026 against NDCC chapter 39-06.1 and NDDOT's points reduction page.