The real cost of a speeding ticket goes far beyond the actual fine. Different car insurance companies have different premium penalties for speeding. But to put this in perspective, let’s take Prudential in California, just as an example.
A single speeding ticket would up the insurance cost with a surcharge of approximately 27%. So if someone were paying $750 a year, they would now be paying $952. That’s $202 extra dollars in addition to the cost of the ticket.
On a second offense, the surcharge would be upped an additional 40%, or $381. Now you’re paying $1,333 a year. This would cost an extra $1,749 more than the standard cost over a three year period (most surcharges last three years).
Heaven forbid you get nailed a third time. You can expect a surcharge in the 63% range … ouch!
The obvious solution is to stop speeding. However correct this advice is, it is not the purpose of this article. People are, well, human. So, let’s suppose you’ve actually been ticketed for speeding. What should you do?
You have to fight the ticket. Only 3% of people contest their tickets. The rest simply pay it. But, of course, this doesn’t make it go away and the longer term costs, as shown, can be big time.
By insisting on your day in court, you open up several possibilities for alleviating the situation.
First of all, some judges give an “A for effort” just for showing up in court. They want to avoid the courts getting clogged down with traffic violators and may quickly reduce the moving violation (as well as the fine) to something less serious … something that does not get penalized by insurance companies. And this is a victory since your insurance company will never learn of your speeding ticket.
Another possibility is that the issuing traffic officer does not show up. In some jurisdictions (not all), this is enough to have the case dropped and has been estimated to occur 20% - 30% of the time. It’s worth a shot. If you see the traffic officer in the courtroom, ask the judge for a continuance (just explain that you’re not yet ready with your defense yet) to force him to appear a second time.
In addition, courts will often dismiss cases with errors of some significance on the ticket. We’re not talking name misspellings or your beige car being listed as tan. But if the officer has cited the wrong statute, or wrong highway or wrong make of car, the ticket may be dismissed.
You can also get aggressive in your own defense by asking for the records of when the radar gun was put into service and when its calibration had been tested and maintained. You can also demand records of the traffic officer’s training on the equipment. If such records cannot be produced in a timely manner, the ticket may be dismissed or the Prosecutor may offer you a reduced deal just to be able to move on (again, this is a victory).
Overall, you have a fairly decent chance (my estimate would be better than 50%, as opposed to 0% if you do not contest), of at least getting the violation reduced. An acquaintance of mine was granted three continuances until the Prosecutor finally just chalked it up and reduced the charge. You never quite know what will work in each particular case.
If you are not successful, however, all is still not lost. Although policies differ from state to state, most have a six or eight hour Traffic School (some are online) which will wipe your record clean in many cases and go unseen by your insurance company.
The bottom line is to not passively accept your ticket and the higher insurance costs that come with it. There are definitely options worth taking, even if it’s your first violation. You never know when the next one comes along.
Joshua Rose is an Auto Broker who goes to Used Car Auctions on behalf of car buyers. For informative tips on car buying, negotiating, trade-ins and more, please visit Car Buying Insights.
Tags: auto, beat, car, court, insurance, ticket, traffic, traffic tickets, violation
