Do you have tickets and violations on your driving record? Are you worried that it will affect your premium? Click here to see what your insurance rate could be!
Do you have tickets and violations on your driving record? Are you worried that it will affect your premium? Click here to see what your insurance rate could be!
Many of us have had speeding tickets and violations at some point or another. It’s certainly no fun, but did you know that tickets and violations have a huge impact on you and on your auto insurance rates? Tickets and violations are categorized into three categories:
Major Violation
Minor Violation
Non-Moving Violation
Depending on which violation you have, it can have a different effect on you and your rates. For instance, some of the major violations can last on your record and stay there; impacting you for some 10 years.
So when receiving an auto quote, you will be asked if you know of any violations you’ve had within the past 3-5 years. A MVR (Motor Vehicle Report) will be run in order to verify your information, such as, your driving history, your drivers license information, and any violations or convictions you have on your driving record.
Now, we are going to break down some of the most common violations and how long they can stay on your record.
Driving Under The Influence
Otherwise known as a DUI, this can be driving under the influence of alcohol which is what it is most commonly used for, but it’s official name is driving while impaired. That can even be under the influence of drugs as well. This is profoundly serious and is a major violation. This can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony. Most of the time, the driver will lose his or her license for a certain amount of time and is charged a fine.
Multiple offenses will result in jail time. A DUI charge is different for each state, so you would need to check your state’s information. But most of the time the DUI will stay on your record for 10 years and can impact your insurance premium for up to 5 years depending on the carrier you have. The State may also require you to file anSR22 with an insurance agency in order to prove that you’re a responsible individual.
Driving without a Licenseor Insurance
This is another major violation. This one will stay on your record for about 3 years. In this case, an SR22 may also be issued. Depending on which state you live in, some of the penalties for getting caught driving without insurance can be a fine, community service, and/or jail time. The price of a fine can vary from $100- $1,000. You can get 3-6 points on your license for driving without one. That can affect your auto insurance rates by 50% or more. So better to pay a couple hundred a month rather than go through all of that.
Speeding
The legal definition of speeding is “the act or instance of operating a vehicle faster than allowed by law.” We all know that speeding is dangerous. So why do we do it then? Sometimes it’s a mistake, sometimes we are running late, and other times we are just being careless. But if you are speeding at an extremely high speed and get into an accident, the outcome may be worse than a ticket and violation.
Many people think that going 5 miles over the speed limit is acceptable, but that is NOT true. The law states that a person must obey the speed limit exactly. While speeding is serious, it is considered a minor offense or violation and may result in a ticket that must be paid in a timely fashion. Rarely is a speeding ticket a felony unless your act of speeding causes death or serious injury. This violation can stay on your record for 3-5 years.
Expired Tags
Driving with expired tags is considered a non-moving violation. If they are not reissued within a certain amount of time, then you can be fined. If you drive with expired tags for 6 months or more, your vehicle may get impounded and you may have to pay a fine to get it back. Just like no one should dare drink expired milk, no one should drive with expired tags.
At Fault Accident
This is a major violation. This does add points to your license and if you get enough of those points then you will be at risk of getting your license suspended.
Some states offer traffic or driving courses that can reduce some points off your driving record. Just because you are in an at-fault accident, does not necessarily mean you will get a ticket. There are cases like inclement weather or other things out of your control that could be the cause of the accident. But an at-fault accident can stay on your record for up to 5 years.
Failure to maintain a clear distance
This is also commonly known as “tailgating”, and not the fun kind either. This is a minor violation and can impact your rates for 3 years. Every state has made tailgating a traffic violation. It is when you are following another vehicle too closely. This violation can get you a ticket and 5 points on your license.
Did you know? If you keep your driving record clean and you don’t have any tickets and violations, then your insurance company will reward you for it!
Review
In this article, we discussed some of the tickets and violations that affect you, but these are just a few of the many tickets and violations that you, as a motorist, can get. Everyone, regardless of who we are, where we come from, or what we have, should try their best to drive safely. If we keep these tickets and violations in mind and know that some of them can really impact our lives and the lives of others, then we can successfully be a safe driver.
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