Speeding Tickets and Insurance
The month of May brings us the world famous Indianapolis 500 and all of the festivities leading up to this well known race which is held on Memorial weekend in May. You may or may not know that the first Indianapolis 500 was held in 1911 and won by a man named Roy Harroun. His average speed for that race was approximately 75 mph.
Think of that, 75mph……. That’s close to the speed limit in many areas on the interstate now! I’m careful these days to not go much over 5 mph over the speed limit. The cruise control is my friend, and I use it whenever I can when driving on the interstate. In the past I might have accidentally had a little bit of a lead foot from time to time. Have you ever been driving on a hilly interstate cruising along, and when you look down after going downhill and your speedometer reads 90 mph? Yikes! One thing I have learned is that one does not want to have speeding tickets on his/her driving record. Insurance companies review driving records and adjust premiums accordingly. If you have speeding tickets on your record, your rates may go up. If the speeds were excessive such as 30mph over the speed limit, your rates could increase by as much as 30%. Ouch!! Sadly, speeding on the road puts everyone (including your insurance company) at risk. For over 20 years, speeding has been a factor in approximately 1/3 of all traffic fatalities. It’s just not worth it. It seems that many of us are always in a hurry these days. Next time you are in a hurry and tempted to speed, think of these statistics.
The best thing you can do is to keep your driving record clean with no tickets and no accidents of course! Leave the speeding to the race car drivers in the Indy 500! If by chance you have already had a speeding ticket, don’t fret. They usually stay on your record for 3 years, and then they are gone. Remember the cruise control. The cruise control can be your friend too. I highly recommend it.
Jane Freeman is licensed in Property and Casualty Insurance at Peck and Wood Insurance.
