Getting a ticket is one of the unfortunate events that can happen to car owners when they become careless. Not only will you have to pay off the ticket, but also have to worry about the driving violation possibly affecting the rates of your auto insurance. If you’re wondering whether your ticket will affect insurance rates, then you have come to the right place. Read on to learn more about the consequences of a seatbelt ticket.
Seatbelt Tickets
Different types of tickets have different effects on the rates of insurance. In this article, we will focus on seatbelt tickets, one of the most commonly-issued tickets in all of America.
Seatbelt tickets are given to drivers when they are caught driving without wearing a seatbelt. Seatbelts are designed to keep you safe and secure in the event of accidents. Not wearing them can cause you to be ejected from the vehicle, which almost always results in a fatal injury. As such, it is a traffic offense to not be wearing your seatbelt when driving.
However, do note that seatbelts tickets are conditional violations. This means that you wouldn’t be pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt. Instead, traffic officers issue seatbelt tickets if they notice you aren’t wearing one as they pull you over for other reasons. In addition, different states also have different viewpoints on seatbelt violations. For example, states like Arizona, Indiana, Delaware, Kentucky, Michigan, Utah, and North Carolina consider seatbelt violations as non-moving violations, which levels them on par with parking tickets. States may change their laws at any point, so if you do get issued with a seatbelt ticket, we highly recommend that you check the rules for your state.
Lastly, another point to note is that in some states, drivers can receive seatbelt tickets even if their passengers are the ones not fastening their seatbelts.
Effects on Insurance Rates
As mentioned above, only some states recognize seatbelt tickets as a non-moving violation. Unfortunately, for those who live in states that consider seatbelt tickets as a moving violation, it is highly likely that you will notice an increase in the rates of your insurance. Typically, non-moving traffic violations will not have any effects on insurance rates, since no real threat is posed when the vehicle is idle.
Thankfully, seatbelt tickets are considered to be one of the many minor infractions, which means that they won’t have too much of an effect on your insurance rates. Generally, seatbelt tickets result in a no more than 3% increase in insurance rates. In comparison, major infractions like drink-driving or reckless driving can result in an increase of insurance rate by over 20%.
Insurance
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