 TITLE: Which Traffic Violations Increase Your Insurance Rates? CONTENT: What Can You Do to Avoid the Extra Cost?\n----------------------------------------\nIt's clear that not all traffic violations are equal when it comes to your insurance rates. The length of time violations remain on your driving record can also vary depending on where you live. Speeding tickets, for instance, will stay on your record for anywhere from one to six years, depending on the state.\nIn some cases, though, you may be able to prevent the ticket from being added to your driving record, which will prevent your insurer from finding out and raising your rate:\n*   **Attend traffic school.** In some states, you may have the option to attend a defensive driving course to prevent the court from adding certain violations to your record. You'll typically need to pay a fee on top of the court fees to attend, but it could be worth the investment to prevent higher insurance rates in the long run.\n*   **Request a deferral.** Some courts may offer the chance to defer the consequences of your violation in lieu of attending traffic school. In this scenario, you'll typically need to plead guilty and pay a fee on top of the fine for the violation. In exchange, the court will place you on probation for a predetermined period. If you complete the probation with no new citations, the violation won't be added to your record.\n*   **Contest the ticket.** If you believe the ticket is unfair or inaccurate, you can go to court and argue to have the case dismissed or reduced to a lesser violation. If you can manage to create doubt of the circumstances through witnesses and evidence, you could succeed. For more serious violations, consider hiring an attorney to help.\nUnfortunately, there's no guarantee that any of these options will be available to you based on where you live and the type of traffic violation. But it won't hurt to reach out to the court and discuss some options it may have to keep your insurance premiums from spiking.\nAlso, keep in mind that more serious violations can cause your insurer to drop you entirely, which could make it difficult to get coverage from another insurance company without paying extremely high rates. The same goes if you have multiple accidents or violations and the insurer deems that you're too much of a risk to continue the relationship. END