How Traffic Tickets Affect Car Insurance Rates

• Car Insurance

If you’re caught speeding, your car insurance premiums may increase. This is one of several traffic violations that can tarnish your driving record and potentially leave you with insurance rates that are up to 30% higher than what you were paying before.

However, that’s not always the case. There are some major exceptions and, ultimately, it all comes down to the severity of the offense, your location, and your car insurance company.

Traffic Violations and Car Insurance

A traffic violation can include:

• Speeding
• Failing to signal
• Failing to stop
• Not wearing a seat-belt

It’s classed as a “civil infraction”, as it’s something that is prohibited but not technically illegal. If you receive such a violation, you may be given a ticket and the offense will go on your record, with your insurer then taking it into consideration when underwriting your policy.

Speeding is the worst of the aforementioned offenses and the most likely to lead to a sharp increase in your premiums. However, that’s not always the case. If you’re caught going a few miles over the speed limit, it’s unlikely that you’ll see a significant rate increase, especially if it’s your first offense. But if you have numerous violations and were caught going well above the speed limit, be prepared for some high auto insurance quotes.

How Speeding Tickets Affect Insurance Premiums by State

Your location is one of the biggest factors determining your insurance rates. If there are a lot of thefts and car accidents in your area, you’ll be considered a greater risk and will be quoted much higher car insurance rates.

Once you add speeding tickets, parking tickets, and other minor violations to the mix, you become a higher risk and will, therefore, be quoted even higher premiums.

To give you an idea of how high these can be and how much they differ from the state average, take a look at the list below. 

• Alabama – Average Premiums for More Drivers = $1,300; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,670
• Alaska – Average Premiums for More Drivers = $1,200; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,500
• Arizona – Average Premiums for More Drivers = $1,450; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,780
• Arkansas – Average Premiums for More Drivers = $1,550; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,900
• California – Average Premiums for More Drivers = $1,850; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $2,400
• Colorado – Average Premiums for More Drivers = $1,780; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $2,500
• Connecticut – Average Premiums for More Drivers = $1,650; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $2,300
• Delaware – Average Premiums for More Drivers = $1,850; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $2,200
• D.C. – Average Premiums for More Drivers = $1,900; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $2,200
• Florida – Average Premiums for More Drivers = $1,230; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $3,000
• Georgia – Average Premiums for More Drivers = $1,800; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $2,200
• Hawaii – Average Premiums for More Drivers = $1,300; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,400
• Idaho – Average Premiums for More Drivers = $1,050; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,300
• Illinois – Average Premiums for More Drivers = $1,300; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,400
• Indiana – Average Premiums for More Drivers = $1,180; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,300
• Iowa – Average Premiums for More Drivers = $1,050; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,280
• Kansas – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,400; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,650
• Kentucky – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,600; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $2,100
• Louisiana – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $2,300; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $2,700
• Maine – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $850; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,000
• Maryland – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,550; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,800
• Massachusetts – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,250; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,900
• Michigan – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $2,600; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $3,400
• Minnesota – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,380; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,700
• Mississippi – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,400; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $2,000
• Missouri – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,280; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,400
• Montana – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,600; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,800
• Nebraska – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,300; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,650
• Nevada – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,550; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,900
• New Hampshire – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,100; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,450
• New Jersey – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,520; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,800
• New Mexico – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,400; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,800
• New York – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,800; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,450
• North Carolina – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,100; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,200
• North Dakota – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,170; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,350
• Ohio – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,180; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,250
• Oklahoma – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $2,000; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,900
• Oregon – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,300; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,350
• Pennsylvania – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,200; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,600
• Rhode Island – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,850; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $2,500
• South Carolina – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,440; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,600
• South Dakota – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,270; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,500
• Tennessee – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,300; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,550
• Texas – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,800; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,900
• Utah – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,200; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,450
• Vermont – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,100; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,350
• Virginia – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,070; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,200
• Washington – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,400; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,600
• West Virginia – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,480; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,750
• Wisconsin – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $950; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $1,450
• Wyoming – Average Premiums for Most Drivers = $1,600; Average Rate with Speeding Ticket = $2,000

The Cheapest Insurance Coverage with Traffic Tickets

We looked at the top insurance providers for all states and consistently found that Geico came out on top. We’re not affiliated with Geico in anyway and are not here to promote the services of this particular insurer.

However, it can’t be denied that Geico is always near the top of the list when it comes to insurance quotes, and this is true if you’re a safe driver, or have speeding tickets and even a DWI on your driving record.

Geico had one of the highest average price increases for drivers with minor violations, but because the initial price was much lower than competing providers, it still came out on top. Allstate and Nationwide were the two that had the lowest rate increase for drivers with speeding tickets, but their policies were consistently 20% to 25% higher during our tests.

It’s worth noting, however, that we didn’t include local auto insurance providers in this research and we also didn’t account for discounts resulting from defensive driving, military members, good grades, and good driver records.

Once you include these discounts and increase your range to include car insurance companies operating only within your state or a handful of states, you may find that Geico doesn’t have the cheapest rates.

Bottom Line: Stay Clean

Over 110,000 drivers receive speeding tickets every day in the United States and most of these will see their auto insurance rates increase.

The cliché is a lie: Rules are not made to be broken. Everyone speeds a little on occasion and no one is perfect, but it’s important to try and stay within the law at all times when you’re on the road. Not only will this help to prevent injury to you and others, but a clean driving history is essential if you want affordable insurance premiums.

Source: pocketyourdollars.com