Speeding Ticket (insurance) Question

theclam

So, I got pulled over the other day for going 59mph in a 40 zone. The cop recommended that I go to traffic court, rather than paying the ticket. He said that since it's my first offense, I'll probably be allowed to go traffic school.

Now, I don't really want to go to the court, then spend several hours in traffic school. One of my friends said that he only saved $20 by going to traffic school rather than paying the ticket, because of court costs and school fees. I'm not concerned with points on my license; this is my first ticket in 5 years of driving and I doubt I'll get another ticket for quite a while.

My question is this: how is this going to affect my car insurance rates? Will paying the ticket increase my rates? Will the insurance company ignore the ticket if I go to traffic school?

If it matters, I'm in Tennessee.

Deathwing

My question is this: how is this going to affect my car insurance rates?

Nobody but your insurance company is going to be able to give you exact dollar amounts, and even then they'll probably only tell you the next time your policy renews.

That said, I can say at least that I received 4 points on my Virginia license for an accident that happened out of state back in September, and Geico raised my rates by $96 per year (about $12 per payment). That was my first violation of any kind since I got my license almost 10 years ago, not even a parking ticket before that.

Will the insurance company ignore the ticket if I go to traffic school?

Probably not, but again, only they can tell you for sure.

Ganluan

In every state I've ever heard of that allows traffic school, going to traffic school actually removes the ticket from your record. This effectively makes it so that your insurance company acts as though the ticket never happened.

Go to traffic school - you'll save money, it's only a few hours, and your insurance could jump hundreds of dollars if you're a younger driver. Not to mention if you get another ticket anytime soon, having a previous one still on your record won't help matters.

Plus, you never know when those points will come back to haunt you.

wallabeeX

In my experience, insurance companies are incredibly happy to have any excuse to raise your rates.

What it seems you're missing, however, is an important note. The insurance company, at this point, doesn't know about your ticket. It won't know about your ticket until it's put on your record, and it won't be put on your record until your court case is closed and you've been found guilty. What the officer was trying to tell you was that, instead of paying the ticket and admitting your guilt to going 59 in a 40, you can go to traffic court and negotiate your ticket. For first-time offenses, it's not uncommon for tickets to be severely reduced or wiped out entirely in favor of a traffic school. Instead of paying a huge fine and having your insurance company see that you were doing 20 over, you could probably get away with paying a much smaller fine (or go to traffic school), and have your insurance company see that you were doing 5 over (or nothing at all).

At least that's how it's worked for friends of mine in the past. I always just pay the fine, mostly because I always seem to get pulled over for speeding in states really far away.

Thanatos

wallabeeX wrote: »

In my experience, insurance companies are incredibly happy to have any excuse to raise your rates.

What it seems you're missing, however, is an important note. The insurance company, at this point, doesn't know about your ticket. It won't know about your ticket until it's put on your record, and it won't be put on your record until your court case is closed and you've been found guilty. What the officer was trying to tell you was that, instead of paying the ticket and admitting your guilt to going 59 in a 40, you can go to traffic court and negotiate your ticket. For first-time offenses, it's not uncommon for tickets to be severely reduced or wiped out entirely in favor of a traffic school. Instead of paying a huge fine and having your insurance company see that you were doing 20 over, you could probably get away with paying a much smaller fine (or go to traffic school), and have your insurance company see that you were doing 5 over (or nothing at all).

At least that's how it's worked for friends of mine in the past. I always just pay the fine, mostly because I always seem to get pulled over for speeding in states really far away.

It depends on the state you're in. In California, you're allowed to traffic school one ticket per year. If you go to traffic school, the ticket never goes on your record. Which means your insurance company never hears about it, and if your driving record gets pulled on a background check (for a job, for instance), it doesn't show up. This is pretty much universally advantageous, in spite of the fes.

Check to see if your state allows you to do internet traffic school.

Nitsuj82

Yeah, what he said.

As far as the rates go, your insurance company can be the only one to tell you if they will be affected. It really, truly, honestly depends on the company and what they can get away with in your state.