Money Q&A

What is one of the first things that you think about when you get pulled over by the police for speeding or some other traffic violation? I know that one of my first thoughts goes to my car insurance and how much my car insurance premium may go up if I get a ticket. We all understand that tickets affect insurance rates, but many of us do not know how do speeding tickets affect insurance rates and how other violations play into our rates. Now, Insurance.com has done the leg work for you with a new study that they have just published dissecting how much auto insurance rates increase for common driving violations.

Insurance.com analyzed over than 490,000 car insurance quotes from 14 different car insurance companies over a two year span. They looked at drivers who had 14 of the most common driving infractions and compared them with drivers who had clean driving records. Their study estimated the annualized premium increase that drivers could expect for certain combinations of driving infractions, and the study also takes into account and controls for personal attributes such as their state, time with insurer, marital status, age, and other factors to comprise your car insurance premium.

Based on Insurance.com’s study and analysis, here is how much common tickets can impact your car insurance rates on average:

1. Reckless driving: 22% increase
2. DUI first offense: 19%
3. Driving without a license or permit: 18%
4. Careless driving: 16%
5. Speeding 30 mph over the limit: 15%
6. Failure to stop: 15%
7. Improper turn: 14%
8. Improper passing: 14%
9. Following too close/tailgating: 13%
10. Speeding 15 to 29 mph over limit: 12%
11. Speeding 1 to 14 mph over limit: 11%
12. Failure to yield: 9%
13. No car insurance: 6%
14. Seat belt infractions: 3% [click to continue…]

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