N.J.S.A. 39:4-57, explained.

A 39:4-57 conviction carries 2 MVC points. The payable fine is unusually small — $55, or $73 in a Safe Corridor, construction zone or 65-mph area — which tempts people to just mail it in. The points are the real cost: they stack toward the 6-point MVC surcharge and the 12-point suspension, and insurers read the conviction either way.

The statute has more structure than "you didn’t listen." It requires a direction — by voice or hand — from a police officer, peace officer, or the director, given while enforcing a provision of the traffic chapter. Whether a clear direction was actually communicated, and whether the officer was enforcing the traffic code at that moment, are both elements, and both can be genuinely disputed.

No — that is a separate charge, 39:4-80 (disregard of an officer directing traffic), with its own higher payable amount ($86). 39:4-57 is the broader compliance statute for directions given during traffic enforcement. Which one is on your summons matters, because each has to be proven on its own terms.

Many point tickets resolve as amendments to lesser or no-point violations, such as unsafe driving under 39:4-97.2 — a negotiated outcome that takes the prosecutor’s agreement and the judge’s approval, never a promise. These tickets are also often written in tense roadside moments, and what was actually said, gestured, and heard is precisely the kind of fact a court hears out.