Car insurance is quite expensive. You don’t need a traffic ticket to make your premiums go up even more. That’s why it’s important to drive carefully, courteously, and within the legal speed limits. This way, you will not give any reason for a police officer to stop you and serve you a citation regarding irresponsible driving patterns.

You may wonder. The ticket itself carries a fine. Why would you be penalized more by your insurance company?

To be honest, your insurance company is not interested in punishing you. They only look out for their own interests. When they see that you’ve been convicted of a moving violation, they see you as a danger to their operations. Moving violations show the insurance company that you are more at risk of being in a car accident or collision than someone with a clean driving record. A car accident, in insurance terms, means that there will probably be a claim that it will cost them money. The insurance company balances the risk of a car accident claim with a high premium or additional charge.

Of course, each company measures its response to a poor driving record on an individual basis. Generally though, they have a team that looks at the overall behavior you’ve exhibited when behind the wheel.

And when deciding the amount of the rate increase, the insurance company will consider the severity of the moving violation.

Therefore, if you are committed for drunk driving, you are in for an extremely strict reaction to a rate increase. If you simply received a ticket for a broken headlight, the judgment against you will be light. And if you’re found to be speeding 15 miles over the city limits, you’ll get a bigger boost than if you’d been speeding just five miles beyond the posted mileage.

People often ask about parking tickets. For the most part, a motorist who receives a parking ticket only has to worry about paying that ticket. The insurance company will not increase your rates if they see that you are responsible for your bill and they do not view a parking citation as a concern regarding your likelihood of being involved in a car accident.

The line of thought goes far beyond a car. Whether you drive a truck, van, motorcycle or other type of vehicle, your rates may increase if you have been convicted of a moving or speeding violation.

For more information on the subject, speak to an experienced independent insurance agent.