Reader question:
What kind of effect does a speeding ticket have on my car insurance rates?
Elizabeth
This isn’t the time to be a speed demon.
Now that practically every car comes with several herds of horsepower, and that clunker that grandma’s driving can finally outstrip your bicycle, the authorities are taking steps to bring people who go over the speeding limit to justice. With new additions to law enforcement like cameras placed on traffic lights to catch the cars racing past, officials are finding more and more ways to catch the more serious offenders. And if you happen to lose control one day and go a little faster than intended, or maybe you’re just in a hurry, you might fall into this crackdown, and then guess what? Maybe the first ticket itself won’t cost much, but once the information makes its way to your car insurance provider, it could cost you thousands of dollars.
Because of this, it’s very important to drive safely and avoid speeding. Not only does speeding affect your insurance rates, but it will stay on your record for years. You might be under risk of losing your license, and it’s also possible that you will need to pay hefty fines to the state every year for the next few years in order to avoid losing your license. When you think about it, there are very many reasons not to speed and only one to: you might not get caught. But considering the consequences, is that a risk that you want to take?
Insurance companies don’t like speeders because speeders, by doing so, are proving that they are reckless drivers and are not taking measures to avoid collisions. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,one third of the car accidents that happen every year happen because one of the drivers was going over the speed limit.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.