5 Traffic Tickets that Surely Will Raise Your Insurance Rates

When you see the flashing red and blue lights behind you, your heart sinks. You may or may not know exactly what you were doing wrong (or that you will admit to, anyway), but you can be assured that if you do get the ticket, your insurance rates are going to increase. Unless you have a policy that forgives your first ticket, or you can sweet talk your way out getting it in the first place (see our post on the best excuses to give), then you need to succumb to the fact that your premium is going to be going up. It is important to keep in mind that all insurance companies have different secret formulas they use to determine your rates, but according to Bankrate, these are the average rate increases for the most common tickets.

DWI/DUI — Anticipated 25% Increase

Clearly, this is one ticket that you will never get a free pass on, whether or not it’s your first offense (but if it’s not, prepare for a much heftier consequence). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that drunk drivers cause a fatality every 51 minutes, so it is understandable that this offense is not taken lightly.

RECKLESS DRIVING — Anticipated 15-20% Increase

Not quite sure what constitutes reckless driving? The official terms vary by state, but generally speaking, if you are putting other people (or property) in danger, you are driving recklessly. So it could be anything from going way too fast or texting while you are behind the wheel.

DRIVING WITHOUT A LICENSE — Anticipated 10% Increase

First off, if you got your license taken away, it was for a reason. You shouldn’t be driving, period. If you choose to, be prepared for an insurance increase if you get caught.

RUNNING A RED LIGHT — Anticipated 10% Increase

While most people avoid running red lights on purpose, a lot of people don’t stop completely when making a right turn, which is technically the same ticketable offense. Rolling right turns are very dangerous because they don’t allow you the time to make sure there are no pedestrians or bicyclists hiding behind your line of vision before you cross the white line.

SPEEDING — Anticipated 10% Increase

You know speeding is bad. It is not part of driving defensively, and it is responsible for 30% of all fatal crashes. Just don’t do it, and you won’t have to worry about the 10% increase.