How Speeding Tickets Affect Your North Carolina Car Insurance

Speeding can be a costly exercise, especially in North Carolina. The State has one of the toughest laws on speeding, with first time offenders facing a maximum fine of $1000, depending on their speed. Not only can speeders be hit with a costly ticket, they may also face higher North Carolina car insurance costs.

North Carolina has a points system whereby certain violations are attributed a numerical value. If you accumulate 12 points in three years you lose your license. For example, speeding in excess of 55 miles per hour or speeding in a school zone will cost you three points.

Perhaps more financially burdensome is the insurance points scale, where certain traffic infringements cost insurance points, which result in higher insurance premiums. Some minor violations won’t attract any insurance points, but speeding in excess of 75 miles per hour for example, when the posted speed limit is less than 70 mph, could result in a significant increase. Check the North Carolina State University website’s legal affairs section for more information about speeding and car insurance rates. 

The moral of the story here is: don’t speed. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 31 per cent of fatal crashes in the US in 2007 involved speeding. The NHTSA estimated that speeding-related crashes cost society more than $40 billion a year. Speeding can kill, seriously injure, and cost you a fair share of money in traffic tickets and higher North Carolina car insurance rates.