New Hampshire Speeding Ticket

[dmchicago]

What is the name of your state? Massachusetts
I got a speeding ticket in New Hampshire over Labor Day weekend. 85 mph in a 65 mph. I will pay the $250 fine, but does anyone know if I can #1) Avoid points on my license
#2) Avoid an increase in insurance premiums due to the ticket (will my insurance company automatically find out?) Thanks for any help on this matter!

 

[The Occultist]

NH will not assign points to your license. They will report your violation to Mass and they will decide how many points to award. I'm not sure how they will do so, so you may wish to put a call in to your local DMV and see what they say. You can also go ahead and ask them about point reductions, and my guess is driving school may be one of your options.

Your insurance company will find out about the violation. Every so often they will run a background check on you to see if anything new comes up. If they see a moving violation, they will use their own point system separate from the DMV that will affect your premiums.

If you're willing to go back to NH, you may be able to plea for a non-moving violation, that should result in no points on your license and no premium hikes.

 

[Orcons]

What is the name of your state? Massachusetts
I got a speeding ticket in New Hampshire over Labor Day weekend. 85 mph in a 65 mph. I will pay the $250 fine, but does anyone know if I can #1) Avoid points on my license
#2) Avoid an increase in insurance premiums due to the ticket (will my insurance company automatically find out?) Thanks for any help on this matter!

I don't know if MA will find out about the ticket. If they do, my understanding is that they will assign points under the SDIP system. If they assign points it will affect your insurance as that is based on the SDIP. The insurance company will find out directly from the RMV.

I also don't know how to contest a ticket in NH but your best bet is to do that. MA does not have driving school as an option, nor is there any way to reduce the number of points. In MA you are either responsible or not responsible and if you are responsible they have to give you the points. There is no such thing in MA of negotiating down to a lesser offense as other states will do.

 

[The Occultist]

In MA you are either responsible or not responsible and if you are responsible they have to give you the points. There is no such thing in MA of negotiating down to a lesser offense as other states will do.

Whether or not plea bargaining is allowed in MA is absolutely irrelevant since the violation took place in NH. OP needs to find out whether or not he can do so in NH.

 

[Orcons]

Whether or not plea bargaining is allowed in MA is absolutely irrelevant since the violation took place in NH. OP needs to find out whether or not he can do so in NH.

My point was that if they assign points he will get the full points, he can not go to the registry and try to negotiate anything as The Occultist suggested he could do.

I do find it curious that The Occultist is splitting hairs given all the inaccuracies in his or her post. Let's see, besides the issue of discussing point reductions with the registry, which isn't done in MA, insurance companies in MA do not have their own point system (as Occultist suggested), the system is run by the state and at least up to now (this may change soon in a limited way) rates are set by the state. Also, driving school is not an option (as Occultist suggested it might be) nor does the insurance company have to run any kind of check to find violations, the state assigns points on your insurance and informs the insurance companies directly as that is part of how rates are determined.

The point is that MA has a pretty unique system and you can not make generalizations from what happens in other states.

 

[The Occultist]

I was suggesting he go to NH and do all of that, but thanks for trying.

 

[The Occultist]

If you're willing to go back to NH, you may be able to plea for a non-moving violation, that should result in no points on your license and no premium hikes.

I believe I posted that in my first post. Your rants about plea bargaining in MA are useless as I didn't say to do so in MA.

 

[FlyingRon]

DMV assigned points mean little to insurance companies. They will see the violation and score it in their own way. Sometimes changing the title of the violation helps (oddly a 10 MPH speeding is much better with my company than careless driving, even though the latter is the minimal fine/points that you can pretty much get from our state traffic statutes).

 

[Maestro64]

Driver license violation are shared between states via the Driver's license Compact agreement. If you read below MA does not belong to this, they belong to a new system that is being put in place. What you need to find out is if NH is part of this new system because if they are then MA will know about this ticket if NH reports it, this is the important part, if NH does not report it then no one finds out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_License_Compact#States_that_are_members

FlyingRon is correct that the insurance companies do not care what points a state assigns they make their own assessment base on the violation you have. Ever state has their own point system and these points are used to determine if your license should be suspended. Some state suspend at lower threshold than others.

Also, insurance company assign a risk level to all their drivers and depend on your risk level will determine how ofter they check your DMV record or if at all. If they deem you high risk then most likely they will check you more.

 

[Orcons]

FlyingRon is correct that the insurance companies do not care what points a state assigns they make their own assessment base on the violation you have. Ever state has their own point system and these points are used to determine if your license should be suspended. Some state suspend at lower threshold than others.

Also, insurance company assign a risk level to all their drivers and depend on your risk level will determine how ofter they check your DMV record or if at all. If they deem you high risk then most likely they will check you more.

Flying Ron may be correct when it comes to other states but his information is totally wrong concerning MA. I find it incredible that everyone, starting with Occultist, has been spouting off about how MA does things when they don't have a clue. (And yes, I am sure Occultist will disagree but my earlier post stands, almost everything he said is wrong, I am just not going to argue it with him as it is pointless.)

MA is not like other states. Insurance is heavily regulated. Rates are set by the state and depend on driving record and where the car is garaged. All insurance companies use the same point system and have the same rates. The only exception is minor discounts that some companies give to members of specific groups like AAA. Excluding any possible discount, if you go to two insurance companies in this state and get quotes for the same car, same driver(s), same coverage etc., the quotes will be identical. This information is for MA only, I don't know how other states do things and I would not suggest that I do.

I will now sit back and wait for everyone who does not live in MA and who does not pay for insurance here or drive here to tell me how things really work. As for me, I am done with this debate.

 

[Maestro64]

Flying Ron may be correct when it comes to other states but his information is totally wrong concerning MA. I find it incredible that everyone, starting with Occultist, has been spouting off about how MA does things when they don't have a clue. (And yes, I am sure Occultist will disagree but my earlier post stands, almost everything he said is wrong, I am just not going to argue it with him as it is pointless.)

MA is not like other states. Insurance is heavily regulated. Rates are set by the state and depend on driving record and where the car is garaged. All insurance companies use the same point system and have the same rates. The only exception is minor discounts that some companies give to members of specific groups like AAA. Excluding any possible discount, if you go to two insurance companies in this state and get quotes for the same car, same driver(s), same coverage etc., the quotes will be identical. This information is for MA only, I don't know how other states do things and I would not suggest that I do.

I will now sit back and wait for everyone who does not live in MA and who does not pay for insurance here or drive here to tell me how things really work. As for me, I am done with this debate.

Gee who would have imaged MA the only state that does not allow competition in car insurance. Didn't take more than 30 second of searching to find that out and find they are also 20% higher then the national average. Orcons, is right the state will report your tickets and points to the insurance company automatically.

This is very different than the other 49 states which allow you to get competitive quotes and it is the insurance companies responsible to check your DMV records to see if you have any tickets.

So not only do they set you insurance rate higher in than everyone else, they also help the insurance companies charge you more by telling them every time you get a ticket. If I am not mistaken, doesn't MA have a large insurance industry. Wonder who running that state. I just read they pass a law that requires everyone to have health insurance too.

 

[The Occultist]

almost everything he said is wrong

If you had simply pointed out the one or two things I said that were wrong, I wouldn't have a problem, but now you're saying almost everything I said is wrong? Well that's just begging for me to show otherwise, so here I go!

NH will not assign points to your license.

Hmm, how is that inaccurate?

They will report your violation to Mass and they will decide how many points to award.

Still, this is correct. Perhaps there was confusion in the use of multiple "they's" so allow me to clarify: NH will report the violation, and MA will choose how to apply the points. Is this not correct?

I'm not sure how they will do so, so you may wish to put a call in to your local DMV and see what they say.

Not a fact, but merely a suggestion on what steps the OP could take, so it's not something that can be considered "right" or "wrong".

You can also go ahead and ask them about point reductions, and my guess is driving school may be one of your options.

Within the sentence I had already conceded that I didn't know what I was talking about here, so I fully admit I was incorrect in this. Kudos for pointing that out.

Your insurance company will find out about the violation. Every so often they will run a background check on you to see if anything new comes up.

That is accurate, though apparently unnecessary as Maestro pointed out the DMV is friendly enough to go ahead and fill the insurance companies in on what's up.

If they see a moving violation, they will use their own point system separate from the DMV that will affect your premiums.

My pardons, I was mistaken.

If you're willing to go back to NH, you may be able to plea for a non-moving violation, that should result in no points on your license and no premium hikes.

This sounds accurate to me.

I have no problem with you telling me what exactly is incorrect and why. I was mistaken on two points and I have been corrected, but for you to say everything I said was wrong is completely off base. If you disagree with anything I've said, please explain why. I'm not trying to start an argument, I'm merely trying to learn new things from any insight you or anybody else may have.