as the title says, i was recently pulled over in California and received a citation for "tailgating." this would be my first traffic violation.
i wasn't ordered to appear in court but was given a deadline in which i have to respond to the citation (a couple months away). i'm on my parent's insurance and don't want a point on my record due to increasing insurance rates.
i'm hoping to request a fine reduction from the court (im
broke and paying my own college) and attend traffic school to avoid having a point added on my record. only problem is, the backside of the citation states that asking for a reduction "may add points to your driving record and affect your insurance."
from what i've read, i must plead guilty or no contest before requesting a fine reduction. if i plead and request a fine reduction, will my insurance be notified of my citation (assuming they havent already. i'm not sure how this works) and will my insurance go up? how do i make sure a fine reduction won't affect my insurance?
is anyone familiar with my situation and willing to share some advice? much appreciated, thanks in advance!
cited for tailgating. will my insurance go up? CA
byu/Striking-Mouse225 inInsurance
Posted by Striking-Mouse225
5 Comments
Yes they will. Mine went up $500/yr for a seatbelt ticket
If you go to court and request traffic school. It will mask the point. Insurance companies will still see it. But I got a ticket in the same state many years ago for the same reason. My insurance rates didn’t go up.
Hire an attorney and hopefully they can negotiate to have it lowered to a non-moving violation that does not result in points on your license which means it’s not reported to the DMV. You still have to pay court costs and attorney’s fees which will probably cost you several hundred dollars.
Assuming you are young (under 25) your insurance will likely go up, although not a speeding ticket, you just became more high risk because tailgating and could leave to a higher change of an accident. By how much, no one knows. My guess is that appearing in court would not hurt your case, but there is no guarantee you can have your violation reduced either. Good luck!
Some advice? don’t tailgate!