n [ pl ]
a system used by the government to control the way people drive their cars. If, for example, somebody is stopped by the police for driving too fast or in a dangerous way, they get a number of penalty points on their driving licence. After a certain amount of time, the points are removed from the licence. However, if at any time somebody reaches a particular number of points (12 in Britain) they are not allowed to drive at all for a period of time. A person with points on their licence also pays more for car insurance:
I’ve still got six penalty points on my licence
➡ note at driving .