In 1957, North Carolina institued the Safe Driver Incentive Plan(SDIP) to help promote safe driving practices. You will receive insurance points when you are convicted of a traffic violation, or are found to be at-fault(even partially at-fault) in an accident.Traffic violations are separated into categrories and assigned a point value. The more serious the violation, the more points are charged. Your insurance rate inscreases by a certain percentage based on the number of points you have been charged. Driving safely can keep money in your wallet!
Insurance points are why your auto insurance rate goes up after an accident or a ticket. Because the points are associated with your auto insurance policy and not your specific drivers lisence, your rate can go up because of a family member's accident or ticket. The points added to your insurance can build up over time, but they are not permanent. SDIP points remain chargeable for three years from your conviction date. The points will be removed at the insurane policy renewal date, after the three year period is up.
If we are all honest, most of us can be rightly accused of speeding at one time or another. Many people say things like, "As long as you are going less than 10mph over the speed limit, you are ok."
Technically if you are driving even 1mph over the limit, you are speeding and can be ticketed.How many points speeding will cost you depends on what the posted speed limit is. Here are just a few examples:
-Speeding 10mph or less in excess of speed limit of less than 55mph: 1 insurance point
So if you are pulled over for driving 40mph in a 35mph zone(possible, but not likely) you will have 1 point added to your insurance policy. This earns you a 30% rate increase!
-Speeding 10mph or less in excess of speed limit of 55mph or greater: 2 insurance points
-Speeding more than 10mph provided the total speed is greater than 55mph, but less than 76mph:
2 points
In this case, if you are going 60mph in a 55mph zone(again, its unlikely that you will be pulled over for this, but you CAN be) or, if you are going 75mph in a 55mph, you will have 2 points added to your insurance policy. This will result in a 45% rate increase. If your original rate was $300, then you are now paying $435, an increase of $135 per month!
-Speeding in excess of 75mph when the speed limit is less than 70mph:4 points
-Speeding in excess of 80mph when the speed limit is 70mph or greater:4 points
On Highway 29 in Rockingham County, the speed limit is 70mph, but once you enter into Guilford County, the speed limit drops to 55mph. I will use this area as an example. If you are in Rockingham County driving 81 mph on Hwy 29(which if pulled over can result in ticket costing you 4 points and an 80% rate increase), then you hit Guilford County and you don't slow down, you are now going 26mph over the speed limit. If you are pulled over going 81mph in a 55mph zone, you will get 4 points for the speeding violation, but you may also be ticketed for Reckless Driving. It is possible that you could be charged 4 points for each conviction, resulting in 8 points being added to your insurance. 8 points on your insurance will result in a 195% rate increase, turning that $300 a month rate into $885 per month.
The moral of this story is, folks, driving safely will protect both you and your bank account. Speeding is such a commonplace traffic violation, but do not take for granted that going 5-10mph over the speed limit is ok. You can be ticketed for it, and if convicted(or if you plead guilty), not only will you pay the fine, your insurance rate will go up and stay up for three years. If you are ticketed for a traffic violation, talk to your insurance agent or their staff before you plead guilty and pay the fine. They can give you adivce about how much your rate could increase, and whether you may want to talk to an attorney about going to traffic court for you. The legal fees may actually be less than what you would pay for having a traffic conviction on your insurance for three years.
For a complete chart of the SDIP Points system, click here.
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