A speeding ticket raises your auto insurance premiums and adds fines, and it can also add points to your driving record in the 41 states and the District of Columbia that use a license point system, according to Insurance.com in 2025. A speeding ticket stays on your driving record for one to ten years, though most states keep it for three to five years, according to Insurify in 2026. One speeding ticket increases the average annual premium by about $582, or 27%, according to Experian in 2025, with state increases ranging from about 49% more in North Carolina, per Bankrate in 2025, to about 101% more in Hawaii, per CarInsurance.com in 2026. A second speeding ticket raises premiums further, with two tickets costing about 45% more than a clean record, according to ValuePenguin in 2026. Drivers can remove a speeding ticket or reduce its penalty through several methods: contesting the ticket in traffic court, requesting a legal deferral that dismisses the ticket after about a year for an administrative fee of $150 to $200, enrolling in a defensive driving course at a DMV-approved traffic safety school, plea bargaining to downgrade the offense, or hiring a speeding ticket defense lawyer. Drivers with a speeding ticket can lower their car insurance premiums by paying the fine or completing community service, removing license points after traffic school, raising the auto insurance deductible, driving fewer miles, and installing anti-theft and security devices, which cut premiums by 5% to 30%.
Table of contents
- How Does a Speeding Ticket Affect Your Driving Record?
- How Long Do Speeding Tickets Stay on Your Record?
- How Do Speeding Tickets Affect Your Car Insurance Rates?
- What Happens if You Get an Additional Speeding Ticket?
- How to Get a Speeding Ticket Off Your Record?
- Don't Pay The Speeding Ticket Just Yet
- Go For a Legal Deferral
- Enroll in a Traffic School
- Try to Plea Bargain
- Contest Your Speeding Ticket
- What Are Ways to Save on Car Insurance Premiums With a Speeding Violation?
A speeding ticket won't land you in jail, but it can break the bank in more ways than you think.
If you get a speeding ticket, your auto insurance premiums will increase. You'll face fines and may require some legal services or enroll in a defensive driving course held by a DMV-approved traffic safety school if you want to get a speeding ticket off your record.
In states that use the license point system for driver records, also called the demerit points system, a speeding ticket can result in a mark-up on a driver's history and no more clean driving record.
The good news is that speeding is an avoidable traffic violation. However, if you are a lead-footed driver, there are ways that you can get speeding tickets off your driving record.
How Does a Speeding Ticket Affect Your Driving Record?
Most states use a driver point system to track traffic violations. Nine states do not use a point system: Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wyoming. According to Insurance.com in 2025, the other 41 states and the District of Columbia assign points to a driver's record after a conviction.
Points are assigned to a driver with a traffic violation after a traffic citation.
How many points depends on the severity of the traffic offenses, the state, and its traffic laws, as they all have ways of adding points to your driving license and record. It works like golf; you want fewer points because more suggests you are a high-risk driver with several traffic violations.
A ticket for speeding can result in points being added to your driver's license and your record.
Your auto insurance provider will notice this, and you may see an increase in your premiums. Too many points on your driving record can result in a license suspension. Its a good idea to know how long points will stay on your license because they will raise your insurance rates.
How Long Do Speeding Tickets Stay on Your Record?
A speeding ticket stays on your driving record for one to ten years. The exact length depends on your state and the severity of the violation. According to Insurify in 2026, most states keep a speeding ticket on record for three to five years, and a few states keep it longer or permanently.
Minor traffic violations, such as running a stop sign at a barren intersection, can remain on your record for less. A factor often used in a speeding ticket is how fast you went during the traffic violation.
How Do Speeding Tickets Affect Your Car Insurance Rates?
A single speeding ticket raises the average car insurance premium by about 22% to 30%. According to Experian in 2025, one speeding ticket increases the average annual premium by about $582, or 27%.
Some states raise car insurance rates far above the national average. According to Bankrate in 2025, North Carolina drivers pay about 49% more after one speeding ticket. According to CarInsurance.com in 2026, Hawaii drivers pay about 101% more, the highest increase of any state.
The exact amount of car insurance increases varies based on the insurer and the severity of the traffic ticket.
A speeding ticket raises your car insurance premium for about three to five years. According to Liberty Mutual, most insurance companies review the past three to five years of your driving record. Your premium returns to its prior level after the ticket stops counting, as long as you avoid new violations.
What Happens if You Get an Additional Speeding Ticket?
A second speeding ticket within a couple of days or weeks of your first speeding ticket can further increase your auto insurance premium.
A second speeding ticket raises your car insurance premium more than the first. According to ValuePenguin in 2026, drivers with two speeding tickets pay about 45% more than drivers with a clean record. With many speeding tickets on your driving record, your insurance company will have no choice but to assume that more traffic violations will occur.
How to Get a Speeding Ticket Off Your Record?
To answer the main question of this post directly -yes, there are a couple of ways to remove a speeding ticket from your record to avoid the increase in auto insurance rates.
Don't Pay The Speeding Ticket Just Yet
Paying your speeding ticket is admitting guilt, which will be reflected on your record.
Your payment deadline appears on the citation. The deadline varies by court and state. Pay by the appearance date listed on your ticket, or contest the ticket before that date. Before deciding, see if you can contest your speeding ticket in traffic court for a plea bargain.
There's no penalty for losing a traffic trial except the additional legal fees you'll have to pay. But if the plea bargain succeeds, consider the car insurance premiums you will save.
Go For a Legal Deferral
A deferral period is when you are found guilty in court, but the findings are deferred for about a year.
During this period, you can have your speeding ticket dismissed altogether if you avoid other traffic violations. A deferral requires an administrative fee that varies by court. The fee commonly ranges from $150 to $200. For example, Washington State charges a $150 deferral fee, according to Navigate Law Group in 2026. This is usually the best method for drivers ticketed for the first time by a traffic officer for driving over the speed limit.
Enroll in a Traffic School
A common remedy for all traffic offenders is enrolling in a defensive driving course at a DMV-approved traffic safety school.
Attending traffic school courses and obtaining a certificate of completion can be used to reduce the penalties of a traffic violation or even dismiss a speeding ticket.
Taking a defensive driving class from traffic school shows auto insurance companies you are working to become a better driver, which your car insurance company will thank you for.
Some fees accompany the traffic school classes, and there may be limits to how much you can take, depending on your state.
Be aware that completing a course on traffic safety at a traffic school won't make criminal traffic offenses like drunk driving or reckless driving disappear.
Try to Plea Bargain
You can ask for leniency from the court clerk like having the speeding ticket offense downgraded to a moving violation, which car insurance companies don't punish as much.
Mitigation can also be an option where you admit guilt for a lower fine or penalty. The decision is up to the judge, and you may have to pay additional legal fees.
Contest Your Speeding Ticket
You can go to court and contest the speeding ticket by pleading not guilty. This may be best done with the help of a lawyer, but it is not required.
A speeding ticket carries lower penalties than a DUI charge. You can contest a speeding ticket in court, though winning without a lawyer is difficult.
By hiring a speeding ticket defense lawyer, you can maintain a clean record and preserve your driving privileges.
