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Which Traffic Tickets Cause Highest Car Insurance Rates

A speeding ticket for 16 miles over the speed limit can cause your car insurance rate to increase by 28%, according to a recent nationwide analysis conducted by InsuranceQuotes.com to determine which traffic tickets cause the highest insurance rates.

Not surprisingly, tickets for DUI and Reckless Driving cause car insurance rates to increase much more than other types of traffic violations. However, simple speeding tickets can also cause a dramatic increase in your insurance rates.

The study showed that the following traffic convictions cause the highest increase in car insurance rates:

  • DUI: 93% increase
  • Reckless driving: 82% increase
  • Careless driving:  27% increase
  • Speeding 1-15 mph over the limit: 21% increase
    • 16-30 mph over the limit: 28% increase
    • 31+ mph over the limit: 30% increase
  • Failure to stop: 19% increase
  • Failure to yield to pedestrians: 19% increase
  • Driving in a carpool lane: 18% increase

In addition to an increase in your car insurance rates, pleading guilty to a traffic violation causes points to be added to your driving record, which could cause your license to be suspended or revoked.

You can hire a traffic law attorney to get most traffic violations dismissed or reduced to a non-moving, no-point violation, even if an accident was involved. You will pay a higher fine than you would have paid if you had pleaded guilty, but in many cases, you won’t have to appear in court.

To get your speeding ticket or other traffic violation reduced to a non-moving, no-point violation, call St. Louis traffic law attorney Andrea Storey Rogers at (314) 724-5059 or email her at [email protected] to get a price quote for legal representation and an estimate of your fine & court costs.

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How Much Do Speeding Tickets Increase Your Insurance Rates?

Here’s a link to a recent New York Times article that shows how speeding tickets will cause your car insurance rates to increase. Insurance.com analyzed almost 500,000 insurance quotes from 14 different insurance companies and came up with a list of the most common violations and the percentage increase in insurance rates caused by a conviction for each violation.

For example, a conviction for speeding 1 to 14 miles over the speed limit will cause, on average, an 11% increase in your insurance premium. It’s no surprise that a conviction for “Reckless Driving” topped the list at 22%, but “Failure to Stop” will cause a 15% increase, “Failure to Yield” will cause a 9% increase, and a seat-belt infraction will cause a 3% increase in car insurance rates.

Other factors that affect the cost of your car insurance include 1) your age, 2) marital status, 3) what state you live in, and 4) how long you’ve been with your insurance company.

In addition to causing your insurance rates to go up, speeding tickets also cause points to be added to your driving record. When you plead guilty and pay the fine for a speeding ticket or other moving violation, points are added to your driving record. If you accumulate too many points on your driving record within a certain period of time, your driver’s license will be suspended or revoked. 12 points within 12 months will cause your license to be revoked for 1 year. 8 points within 18 months will cause your license to be suspended for 30 days, if it’s your first suspension.

If you have recently received a speeding ticket or other traffic violation and you have decided to hire an attorney to get the ticket reduced to a non-moving, no-point violation, call St. Louis traffic law attorney Andrea Storey Rogers at (314) 724-5059 or email her at [email protected] to get a free price quote for legal representation.