One of the factors affecting your auto insurance premiums is insurance points. Insurance points are determined based on your driving record with the DMV. Points are accumulated for tickets and violations. As you get points, your premiums will increase; but not all tickets will give you points. Minor tickets--called non-moving violations--typically don’t add points. Common non-moving violations include:
- Broken taillight
- Expired tags
- No parking zone
- Cracked windshield
Moving violations on the other hand, are a more severe ticket that will almost always result in a bump to your insurance points. Typical moving violations include speeding, running a red light, making an illegal u-turn, and driving while intoxicated.
When you are pulled over for a violation, the police are well aware how a violation will affect your insurance. If you treat an officer poorly and/or act like an idiot, they can make it look much worse. If you are respectable and honest, the police officer might work things around to keep you from getting points added.
One time, my family and I were visiting a lake and wanted to grab some food. We mistakenly left our backpack with all our money next to the car. Once we got to the restaurant, we realized our mistake and drove back to retrieve the backpack. Worried it might have been taken, I sped through the park entrance to get there quicker. A policeman pulled us over for going 45mph in a 15mph zone.
We weren’t frustrated or upset. We didn’t demand him to let us off the hook. We simply answered his questions and explained what happened. He was very polite and offered to give us a less severe violation so it wouldn’t show up on our driving record and affect our insurance premium. Instead of getting a moving violation for speeding, he wrote us up for a non-moving violation. While we still had to pay a ticket, it wasn’t going to affect our rate and lead to a higher premium.
So if you would like to save yourself when you are pulled over by the police, show respect and be honest. If you are angry and mean, they probably won’t show any grace. They might even inflate the violation to make matters worse for you. Your attitude can make a huge difference.
Of course, an attitude won’t help much if you doing something crazy like driving drunk or running a red light while texting...