How Does A Reckless Driving Citation Affect Car Insurance Rates
Q: If I get a reckless driving citation and lose points off my drivers license, will this affect my car insurance more than getting a negligent driving citation and losing less points?
AIS Answer: Most likely a reckless driving citation will be more costly on auto insurance premiums than a negligent driving citation because of the severity of the infraction. While the difference between being issued a reckless driving citation over a negligent driving citation can often be up to the officer, the penalties are a bit harsher in most states for reckless driving.
If you were to be cited for reckless driving that could mean anything from causing a major car accident while talking on the phone, to swerving around vehicles and hitting a parked car on a side-street All major offenses that mean you were driving irrationally and reckless.
A negligent driving charge can be similar though, but is more likely to be issued when you didn’t actually cause a serious accident. For instance swerving in and out of traffic at a high rate of speed, or doing donuts in a parking lot…while not harmless, certainly the end-result was not as reckless as causing an accident or injury.
I can’t give specific advice on how either would necessarily affect your auto insurance premium because each individual policy and driver is different. You could get by with a small increase, no increase, or completely dropped altogether - in the end it’s up to the insurance company how they handle their policies.
I would guess that a major infraction like reckless driving that takes up to 6 points off your drivers license would show that you’re a more reckless driver and therefore a higher overall risk, but, it doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily pay more than a negligent driving citation because either way they are still tough offenses. Keep in mind, reckless driving citations can be followed with a license suspension. If this is the case then you may have to to file SR-22 after re-instating your license and filing SR-22 will definitely make car insurance more expensive.
If you find yourself in the situation where you need advice after a ticket, contact a licensed insurance agent and they will be able to give you your best options.
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I got a negligent driving ticket when I was a teenager and was completely dropped from my grandmothers car insurance policy. I don’t know if this is how they usually handle drivers with a ticket like that, but I’m telling you it was not cool trying to find my own car insurance at 17 with a negligent driving ticket on my record.
either way negligent or reckless, your car insurance is going to go up when the insurance company checks your DMV report and sees the new ticket.