You hear police sirens. You glance up at your rear-view mirror. Flashing lights. Uh oh. Your heart sinks. You pull over and the police officer decides not to take mercy on you. The officer cites you for speeding and hands you a citation. As you stare at the speeding ticket you realize – this is going to cost more than the figure that’s written down on this piece of paper.
A typical speeding ticket will result in fines anywhere from $85 to $300 dollars, depending on how fast you were going. But the affect the ticket has on your car insurance will be much greater. Even after one ticket, automobile insurance companies can add a surcharge to your premium. It may take up to three years for this surcharge to disappear. This can translate into thousands of dollars in expenses.
The good news is that it doesn’t have to. If you are aggressive and proactive, you can keep this speeding ticket from hitting you where it hurts the most – in your wallet.
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Don’t Ignore It
It may be tempting to rip up the ticket and throw it away. Out of sight, out of mind. Well, this won’t work with the authorities (they will expect their money eventually) and it won’t help with your car insurance rates.
Just because you don’t tell your insurance company about a speeding ticket, doesn’t mean they won’t find out. The DMV shares records with your auto insurance company. They will catch wind of your violation. So if you want to save yourself some money, don’t toss that ticket in the trash.
Don’t Simply Pay It
Simply paying the fine may also seem like an attractive option. Get it over with and move on with your life. This will certainly end your financial obligation to the authorities, but it won’t help your car insurance premiums. Taking the easy way out is not the way to save cash.
Go To Court
Merely showing up to court is a huge advantage in the battle to save money on your car insurance. Your best chance of getting that speeding ticket reduced or even thrown out is to appear at your court date. It’s possible the officer who issued the citation will fail to show, in which case, you are off the hook. Also, the longer the period is between when your ticket was issued and your court date, the more chance you have that the cop won’t attend. Keeping this in mind, try delaying the court date as long as possible.
Simply attending court has its own rewards. If this is your first ticket, the judge may likely defer judgment if you don’t receive another violation within one year’s time. That means the ticket is suspended. And if the ticket is only reduced, it is still possible that it won’t be listed on your record, and thus won’t affect your car insurance rates .
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Hire An Attorney
If you have received multiple traffic tickets this might be your best option. This can be expensive, but versus the money you will have to spend on your car insurance, it can save you in the long run. An attorney might know loopholes and may have a prior relationship with the judge. A legal expert is going to know a lot more about the process than you do, and the result could be a great reduction in the severity of the citation. In terms of real dollars, hiring an experienced attorney could be a very wise investment.
Attend Traffic School
This probably doesn’t sound like a very enticing option, especially considering you would have to spend about eight hours in class on a Saturday. There are tuition fees involved (usually around $80 dollars) and you may still have to pay for the speeding ticket. So what exactly is the advantage of attending traffic school? Upon the successful completion of traffic school, some violations are wiped from your record or reduced. Again, this means more savings. Also, there are some more painless options – like taking online traffic course from the comfort of your own home.
Be aware that some limitations apply. Typically, you can only attend traffic school once every two years (depending upon where you live). Be sure to check what your state’s limitations are before signing up.
It may not be apparent at first, but you are very much in control of your own destiny after you receive a speeding ticket. It’s not something you just have to accept. You can alter the consequences and turn them in your favor. One mistake doesn’t have to end up costing you a lot of money – if you take matters into your own hands.
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