First Speeding Ticket, 18 years old, what to do? (Hanover: insurance, how much)

[ngarson]

Hello,
I am an 18 year old driver in MA, still in high school, still on my parents auto insurance, who up until yesterday has had a clean driving record.
Yesterday I was running late to meet up with some friends and I made a bad judgement call to speed. I was driving and a police car driving the other way came around a bend and went by me, turned on his lights, and did a three point turn to pull me over.
I pulled over the second I saw the lights and waited for him.
He told me I was doing 56 in a 30 (although I'm pretty confident I wasn't going over 50 and my girlfriend who was in the car with me said I was going ~47mph).
The ticket had "Estimated" and "Radar" ticked off.
My ticket is for $265, but that's not really my concern. My concern is the insurance premium bump on my insurance.
I keep reading in diffrent places that your first minor traffic offence doesn't incur surcharges in MA, is that true? If so, does that mean the insurance wouldn't be affected? I have Hanover Insurance.

What are my options here?

Thanks in advance.

[495neighbor]

Originally Posted by ngarson

Hello,
I am an 18 year old driver in MA, still in high school, still on my parents auto insurance, who up until yesterday has had a clean driving record.
Yesterday I was running late to meet up with some friends and I made a bad judgement call to speed. I was driving and a police car driving the other way came around a bend and went by me, turned on his lights, and did a three point turn to pull me over.
I pulled over the second I saw the lights and waited for him.
He told me I was doing 56 in a 30 (although I'm pretty confident I wasn't going over 50 and my girlfriend who was in the car with me said I was going ~47mph).
The ticket had "Estimated" and "Radar" ticked off.
My ticket is for $265, but that's not really my concern. My concern is the insurance premium bump on my insurance.
I keep reading in diffrent places that your first minor traffic offence doesn't incur surcharges in MA, is that true? If so, does that mean the insurance wouldn't be affected? I have Hanover Insurance.

What are my options here?

Thanks in advance.

Whether you incur surcharges depends on your individual insurer. It would not have at all if you had been issued a warning not a ticket.

Over 20 miles over the speed limit is pretty dangerous on a 30mph road. You will have difficulty getting out of the ticket should you try to appeal since you yourself admit you were going 50.

[Bruins_Fan]

Things may have changed, but if you contested a ticket in the past and the officer didn't show the ticket was dismissed. I got out of a couple this way when I was around your age. Things may have changed...this was late 80s-early 90s. Best of luck!

[wolfgang239]

Originally Posted by Bruins_Fan

Things may have changed, but if you contested a ticket in the past and the officer didn't show the ticket was dismissed. I got out of a couple this way when I was around your age. Things may have changed...this was late 80s-early 90s. Best of luck!

This is still correct. A few things have changed recently though.


When you decide to contest the ticket (you pay a fee for this) you first meet with a magistrate and an assigned representative of the town PD that pulled you over. Rarely if ever does a ticket get dismissed at this stage unless it was physically impossible or the wrong statute etc. I was written up for a statute that only applied to two way roads and was pulled over on a one way road, and they still made me go to court which is the next stage (you also pay a fee for this)....

You go to court with other people who have appealed and all of the police officers who pulled them over. You get a chance to argue your case in front of a judge but so does the officer. If the officer fails to show, you get a free pass (minus the two admin fees you paid).

Back to the OP, you may or may not incur an insurance surcharge. As suggested, you need to find the details of your policy. Appealing at best will have you found not responsible, and at worst on the hook for the admin fees, the fine on the ticket and an insurance surcharge. You could also show up to the first appeal and get the fine reduced, discover some administrative error and get it dismissed, etc etc. It all depends on how much time, effort and risk you want to put in.

I would pay up and just be a bit more careful. I lost my license several times before I figured it out

[ngarson]

Thanks for the info so far everyone.
I will probably try to appeal it.
My other question is, does the surcharge only effect the premiums on the car I'm a primary on? Or does it affect the cars I'm a secondary on as well? I'm a primary driver on my car and then a secondary driver on the two cars my parents have.
I referred to this sheet form massrmv.com to find out how much more per year I'd have to pay if I'm found at fault: Premium Adjustment Chart for Inexperienced Operators - Merit Rating Board - MassDOT RMV

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by ngarson

Thanks for the info so far everyone.
I will probably try to appeal it.
My other question is, does the surcharge only effect the premiums on the car I'm a primary on? Or does it affect the cars I'm a secondary on as well? I'm a primary driver on my car and then a secondary driver on the two cars my parents have.
I referred to this sheet form massrmv.com to find out how much more per year I'd have to pay if I'm found at fault: Premium Adjustment Chart for Inexperienced Operators - Merit Rating Board - MassDOT RMV

It affects the whole policy.

[ngarson]

Originally Posted by massnative71

It affects the whole policy.

So it will increase parts 1, 2, 4, and 7 on all three of my families cars by 15%?

[CaseyB]

No, it's on one car and I'm fairly certain you will get one.

You are lucky that you are 18 because if you were younger you could lose your license for 6 months.

[ngarson]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

No, it's on one car and I'm fairly certain you will get one.

You are lucky that you are 18 because if you were younger you could lose your license for 6 months.

Thanks for the reply. What do you mean by "I'm fairly certain you will get one."?

[CSD610]

The premium being raised is up to your individual insurance company.
If you appeal the ticket that can go either way depending on what happens in court and what the Magistrate decides to do that day.

I hope your friends are worth all the money this is costing you.