Auto insurance now available for speeding tickets? Kind of.
Few things in life ruin a day faster than a speeding ticket. Tickets cost a fortune, and dealing with the local courts to pay the fine can be a pain, too. Terrence Boyd knows how you feel, and he started his own insurance company to ease the pain stemming from just such an experience. For $15.95 per month, Boyd's company will pay up to $1,000 in moving violations and $500 in non-moving violations. The company also features two driver and family plans that cost $24.95 and $29.95, respectively. Individual tickets cannot exceed $350, and felonies, drinking and driving, and reckless driving violations are not covered.
If you think nearly $200 per year is too much to insure yourself against the possibility of a ticket, we're with you. But the business has already gained traction since it started in 2007, as Boyd has accrued 1,700 clients spanning 23 states. Seriously, if you need to insure yourself against getting tickets, you probably won't have your license for long anyway. Besides, there are plenty of radar/laser detectors out there for the price of one year's service. Or, y'know, could just drive the speed limit.
[Source: New York Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
TwoSixMike 8:15AM (2/27/2009)
Wow, can you say 'moral hazard'? Insurance is generally to protect against occurrences outside your control. If I don't have to pay the fine, then I've got a pretty nice incentive to start speeding!
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JC06 9:22AM (2/27/2009)
"Insurance is generally to protect against occurrences outside your control."
i'm sorry but getting pulled over by police is out of your control. police will pull you over for whatever they like, whether you actually broke the law or not. they know in most cases you will pay the fine and they get to meet their quota.
i wouldn't get this type of insurance, but just pointing out that even if you follow the law, it only minimizes the chances of you getting pulled over.
larry a 9:38AM (2/27/2009)
You can only get so many speeding tickets before your license becomes suspended. I would imagine the people who are paying for this already have a few under their belt so they'll learn the hard way.
E RASMSSEN 1:59PM (2/27/2009)
Don't know where you live, but In New Jersey, it's not IF you get a ticket but WHEN you get a ticket. We have transformed ticket writing into a artform as well as a tax base.
John 2:25PM (2/27/2009)
E RASMSSEN - right on target.
The cops writing tickets are part of the revenue stream here. I drive Route 17 daily and there are constantly people pulled over.
Michael 8:15AM (2/27/2009)
If they fought every ticket in court for me, it /might/ be worth it. Only if they never lose.
Y'know, like Jedis. "You don't want to give this man a ticket."
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Phaux 10:48AM (2/27/2009)
I looked into this insurance before. One rule for this one place that was prominent at the time was that for every ticket, you HAD to go to court to fight the ticket or else the insurance wouldn't pay. So.. it definitely wasn't worth it.
xcrunk 8:38AM (2/27/2009)
Something about a chic cop just does it for me.
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Mazda FTW! 8:39AM (2/27/2009)
LOL
Mazda FTW! 8:39AM (2/27/2009)
No thanks. I'd rather spend that money on getting a ex-cop service to get my ticket erased before it makes i to my permanent driving record. I work in insurance and thats the real issue. Paying the fine is nothing compared to having tickets show up in your record and your premiums going up.
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652059 11:22AM (2/27/2009)
Agreed; you'd be better off just saving the money and using it to hire a traffic lawyer each time you get a ticket. The fine for the ticket is the least of your concerns; points add up, and insurance can easily double for a couple of tickets in a short time period.
NEVER just pay the fine. Even if you're guilty, go to court and work something out - driving school, reduced charges, anything - don't just pay the fine. Traffic tickets are a racket, and if nothing else you are costing the state/city/county money by clogging up the court system. If everybody fought their tickets like I do, they'd lose so much money on every one they'd stop writing them.
216 8:40AM (2/27/2009)
i think that's one benefit of getting a hybrid. They're slower and it makes it harder to get a ticket (vs. getting a sports car and you become Cop Bait)
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Phil L. 8:48AM (2/27/2009)
Depends on the hybrid. Some manufacturers are discovering that ICE engine + electric motor = more power; faster acceleration.
Yeah, that wasn't the original inspiration behind current hybrid technology - but that's how some are using it. KERS applies this idea to F1 racing.
Jsams4131 9:09AM (2/27/2009)
@phil,
yuup KERS with the mutiple success stories coming from the practices, it seems that KERs technology could be adopted to factory manufactured sports cars..when I saw that post yesterday about the "green" Pagani Zonda; the 1st thing I thought about was KERS.hopefully they can develop KERS this season as much as possible.
Andre 6:03PM (2/27/2009)
IMHO You'd be better off with a sports car. Why? Because the percentage of people in sports cars that are lawyers, or know a good one, is quite high. Why would a cop give you a ticket when they know your going to fight it and win?
I currently drive a red porsche 951. I drive the thing like it's stolen but in the porsche I haven't even gotten pulled over. (I got a lot more cop attention in my previous bmws) Case in point while hauling butt on the freeway I notice a motorcycle cop too late; he ended up putting the radar gun on his knee while I passed and then in my mirror I see him clock a toyota that's attempting to keep up and turns his lights on to pull him over. I know people that have gotten speeding tickets in diesel cars... but you guessed it, never in a sports car.
People who think your going to get pulled over in something fast obviously have never owned such a vehicle. You do 5mph over in a honda and your gonna get a ticket, but you do 10-15mph over in a sports car and the cop doesn't react.
Viper007Bond 8:44AM (2/27/2009)
What a stupid idea. Like all companies, they have to make a profit. Where's that profit come from? You of course. As such, you'll never save money. Better to put that $200/year aside for those tickets.
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Jsams4131 9:03AM (2/27/2009)
Laser detectors don't work anyways..by the time u heard the noise the cops pulling out to get you. Laser Jammers on the other hand...are very awesome.
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yacoub 9:11AM (2/27/2009)
"Or, y'know, could just drive the speed limit."
Speeding tickets aren't usually about that. They're about being sneaky and revenue. The cops sit places where the speed limit drops unexpectedly, or at the bottom of a hill where your car would naturally have picked up some speed.
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Mazda FTW! 9:15AM (2/27/2009)
Agreed. The only speeding ticket I have was because a cop was pointing a laser sighter down the street at the point where the speed limit changes from 70km/h to 50km/h. It's a revenue generator because almost everyone at that point is still about 10km/h over the limit.
I've also heard of speeding tickets for doing 5km/h over the limit!
CH 3:57AM (3/02/2009)
During my driving test, I had to go on the "Autobahn" here in Switzerland and then out again a few exits later. This special exit I had to take, has a 150m straight with a tight corner at the end and you have to slow down from 120 km/h to 40 km/h 50 meters before the corner. Usually the people still are 10 to 20 above the limit when they pass the 40 sign. This is exactly what I also did, was doing 55 km/h and still braking but for the expert taking my test, this meant immediate failure because he "had to" brake for me to 40. Since then, when I come from a 80 km/h street to a inner city 50 km/h street, I brake down to 50 and not one km/h more.