Speeding tickets cause 53% increase in car insurance costs

We all know that speeding tickets cost. They can be extremely expensive! But what you might not know is that they may be costing you even more than you realized. Did you know that speeding tickets can greatly increase the cost of your car insurance? You may already know that, but odds are you might not know how much they can really cost you when it comes to your car insurance.

Insurance.com did a fairly recent analysis to figure out how much speeding tickets are really costing people. They examined the policies of almost 33,000 single-driver, one-car insurance policies. They also looked at almost 400,000 car insurance quotes that Insurance.com had generated. They took into consideration the drivers' ages, etc.

They took a look at the average cost that people were paying who had no violations on their driving record. Then they also looked at how much people were paying who had one to three violations on their records. These records included things like speeding, reckless driving, improper passing, etc.

Here is what they found:

People with one violation on their record had an 18% increase in their annual premium cost. 

People with two violations on their record had a 34% increase in their annual premium cost.

People with three violations on their record had a 53% increase in their annual premium cost.

Yes, you read that right:

Just three violations on a person's record caused them to have to pay 53% more in annual car insurance premiums!

As you can see, tickets can really cost you.  

Some more tickets that could count against you as violations and cause those increases in your annual insurance premiums include not stopping at a stop sign, not yielding, not using a child restraint, running a red light, making an unsafe u-turn, and more.

After these findings, Insurance.com was asked what the best way to save money on car insurance was. Their answer? To drive responsibly at all times. They also said that, if you are paying higher car insurance premiums because of violations on your driving record, it could be useful to you to enroll in a driving safety class. They said that this could help lower your rates.

The moral of the story here?

 

Drive safe!

The average cost of a speeding ticket nowadays can run you in the range from $75 - $300, depending on where you are, how much over the speed limit you were going, etc. But it can cost you way more than that. Speeding, not stopping/yielding, and obviously driving under the influence, can all count as violations against you when you are trying to get car insurance. The more violations you have, the more your premiums will go up. So make sure you are always paying attention and driving safe. That will not only help with the safety of the roads, but also with your wallet.

Nicole is a guest writer for cheapinsurance.com, where she writes about cheap car insurance.