It Depends on the Circumstances
Video Transcribed: Will a traffic ticket increase my insurance costs in the state of Oklahoma? I’m Tulsa Traffic Ticket Attorney James Wirth and we’re talking about the insurance price consequences of traffic citations, traffic tickets.
And the answer to that is yes and no, depends on the circumstances. Ultimately, this was related to points and the point system the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety has. And the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety in the administrative code has 63 different traffic offenses within which, if you’re convicted of them and they get notice of it, results in points on your license.
When an insurance company checks your driving history, that’s what they’re looking for. They find out about these points and they determine your insurance costs based on those points.
So if you get a traffic conviction that adds points and they get notification of that when they request that information from the Department of Public Safety, and it can cause the increase of insurance costs or even the insurance company to say, “We don’t want to insure you. You’re too much for risk due to the number of traffic infractions that you have.” That’s the yes part of it.
The no part of it is that it’s not automatic that it’s going to point. If you get a traffic ticket, and that is not the same as a conviction, that is just an allegation, it’s not the allegations that are reported as points. It’s the convictions.
So if you are convicted of it and it gets reported, then that may result in points. But if you can avoid a conviction, either because they can’t prove their case, or you work out a deal perhaps for a deferred sentence or a deferred prosecution agreement, or something else that may amend it to a lesser offense that does not point, if you can avoid that conviction on it, then you avoid the points.
Also, not all traffic citations result in points. For instance, if it’s simple speeding, you don’t have a CDL, wasn’t in a school zone, wasn’t in a construction zone, none of those circumstances, just simple speeding, either one to 10 over, that is not points on your license.
If you pay that ticket, get the conviction, it does not result in points, and therefore does not get reported to insurance companies, and therefore does not result in higher insurance costs. As long as you’re not a CDL driver.
For CDL, it’s a lot more difficult. You’re going to want to talk to a CDL attorney about that. You can call somebody in my office for that, go to makelaweasy.com. If you’re not a CDL owner, though, for that circumstance, simple speeding, one to 10 over, not points. Other traffic offenses also may not be any points. There are 63 that is though. And if it is and you get the conviction, then you’re looking at points and increased insurance costs.
So if you’ve got questions about your specific circumstances, you probably don’t want to take this general information. You’re going to want to talk confidentially with an attorney about your specifics. To get something like that scheduled with somebody at my office, you can go online to makelaweasy.com.
