It’s the stuff of bad dreams. You’re cruising along the highway on your way to some exciting destination and suddenly you see it in your rear-view mirror: the flashing lights of a police vehicle racing towards you.
You whisper a little prayer that the vehicle will pass you, but it doesn’t. You’ve been busted for speeding.
In addition to the financial burden of the traffic ticket, speeders also need to realize that the violation can have an impact on their car insurance rates as long as it stays on their record and adds demerit points to their driver’s license. But how long does a speeding ticket stay on your record? What if a secondary driver got the ticket?
How long does a speeding ticket stay on your record in Ontario?
In Ontario, a traffic violation will stay on your motor vehicle record for two years following the date of the conviction. But, depending on the ticket, you may experience an increase in your insurance premium for three years. You can check your Ontario driving record if you aren’t sure what’s on it, too.
Remember: insurance companies check driving records to assess your level of risk when they create quotes for you. Insurance providers may consider accidents and claims (separately from tickets) as much as 6 – 8 years later, although their impact on someone’s insurance rates usually gets smaller with every accident-free year that passes after the latest incident.
Good driving records get good rates!
Do speeding tickets earn demerit points?
In Ontario, the Ministry of Transportation assigns demerit points to drivers who violate the rules of the road. These points stay on your record for two years and accumulate with each infraction. The number of demerit points you receive for speeding is calculated on a moving scale based on the speed you were travelling when you received the ticket.
If you were traveling 16-29 km per hour over the speed limit you will receive three points, with that increasing to as many as six demerit points if you are caught travelling more than 50 km per hour. If you accumulate 9-14 demerit points, your license can be suspended, and you lose your license automatically at 15 points.
Demerit points and insurance
While demerit points do not automatically have a direct impact on your insurance in a strictly technical sense, the implications of accumulating those points most certainly will. Speeding tickets affect your insurance pretty substantially because those tickets reflect risky driver behaviour. Additionally, if your license is suspended due to demerit points, your car insurance premium will rise dramatically.
In addition, that suspension will stay on your motor vehicle record for twice as long (six years) as the violations.
While many people will receive an occasional traffic ticket during their lifetime, understanding how long a speeding ticket stays on your record and how it can impact you financially may encourage you to slow down a bit during your travels. We’d advise it too just to make the roads safer out there.
How do speeding tickets affect insurance premiums?
When establishing a rate, insurers look at the vehicle being insured as well as the people who drive it. When you buy or renew insurance, it is likely that your insurer will obtain a copy of your motor vehicle record to see if you’ve earned any traffic tickets in Ontario (or anywhere in Canada).
If you are a relatively clean driver with no recent accidents or tickets, there could be no impact on your insurance rate or only a minor impact. However, if you have multiple speeding tickets or a combination of tickets and accidents, you may experience a substantial increase in your insurance premium.
Get a 3-minute quote right here to see how long any tickets or demerit points have stayed on your record (and the cheapest rates available).
