2/1/08

Will a speeding ticket from another state affect your auto insurance?

Tickets in Other States
In general most US states belong to the Nonresident Violator Compact of 1977. This means that speeding tickets received out of your home state will be reported back to your home state and included on your record for drivers license and insurance points.

However there are certain states that do not put out of state traffic tickets on your record and others that will only enter speeding tickets that are over a certain mph above the speed limit.

Kansas, Wyoming, Minnesota, Arizona, Iowa, and South Dakota will not put a speeding ticket on record unless it is 10 or more mph over the limit. Georgia will not enter speeding tickets unless they are more than 14 mph over the limit. New York and Colorado will not enter out of state speeding tickets at all unless they are serious violations like reckless. Michigan also has special rules about out of state tickets.

You need to check with your own Department of Motor Vehicles to determine the regulations in your state. You obviously have recognized the importance of keeping any traffic violation off your record. Even one minor speeding ticket could increase your insurance premiums by as much as 25% for three years.

You should never just pay a speeding ticket. There are usually avenues available to keep the citation off your record or to reduce its impact on your insurance costs.

More input:


According to the DMVS web site license suspension occurs if you accumulate 15 points within 24 months, including violations committed out of state. So you should expect points on your record.

I once received a speeding ticket in the state of Virginia while living in North Carolina for 78 in a 55. I never saw any increase in my insurance and the ticket was never reported. I have learned that some states do not recoginze tickets from other states. I also have a cousin who had 4 speeding tickets and a moving violation (wrong way down a one way street) and his insurance was never affected either.

Of course it will (usually). A ticket is a ticket. It doesn't matter if it happened in Georgia or in California. The person getting a ticket decided to act on their deliberate risk-taking behavior (by speeding or driving drunk, etc). That's how your insurance company will view the ticket. The only thing that may help you is if the state you got your ticket in doesn't share information (like a MVR) with the state you hold your license in. But remember, if you decide to switch insurance companies and you tell the agent about that ticket in another state, even if it doesn't show up on your MVR, you'll be surcharged for that ticket (if the agent is ethical).

Most likely, though it depends on the reciprocity laws between the states (ie, does your state share information with other states?). Also, your insurance carrier likely has resources to do a search for traffic tickets, etc. So, you can wait until your carrier eventually finds it (and possibly backdates your premium payment), or fess up to them now. One way or the other, they're likely going to find it.

Under the DLC (Drivers Liscense compact), each state is required to report a conviction of a traffic violation that occurred within its jurisdiction to the licensing authority of the motorist's home state. Upon receiving report of a conviction of a violation, the states must take appropriate action (for example suspension, revocation or limitation of driving privileges). Every state is a member of the DLC except Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Unless the out of state infraction happened in one of these five states, chances are it WILL be reported to your home DMV!

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