Motorcycle Insurance Articles
Impact Of Speeding Tickets On Motorcycle Insurance Rates
2010-10-04
Motorcycle insurance is one of the more expensive varieties of vehicle insurance currently available on the market. The reason for this is that bikes are far more likely than cars or trucks to be in serious collisions causing property damage or bodily injury. This can be because of inattentive driving by other motorists or the bikers themselves, or as a result of weather conditions. While someone in a car might be only slightly injured from a crash with another vehicle, a motorcycle rider faces the very real possibility of being thrown a great distance from his or her bike, possibly onto another vehicle or into an object. This can result in serious injury or death. However, as much as other vehicles and weather can be a cause of motorcycle accidents, speeding is just as deadly a killer. Those with many speeding tickets on their record will likely find it difficult to obtain motorcycle insurance for a number of reasons.
The first and foremost is that they represent a greater risk to the company than someone who has a clean driving record. Tickets that are substantially over the speed limit can lead not only to court time but a possible revoking of a driver's license, which means that an insurance company could be in the position of covering an accident for someone who has no right to be on the road. If an accident were to happen under such conditions, an insurance company would immediately drop the insured, and while it might be possible to find other insurance coverage, the price would be extremely high based on the previous track record.
The second reason that speeding tickets have such an impact on motorcycle premiums are the monetary implications they have for the company, aside from the risk of the driver simply being unsafe. Motorcycle riders who are in a collision at a high speed will cause a great deal more damage to both their bikes and themselves than those who were driving at the speed limit. A long litany of speeding tickets indicates that a biker has a history of ignoring rules and is, therefore, a risk. While some states will not allow insurance companies to demand driver histories, companies can still request it and assess a higher premium if their request is not answered.
While riding a bike is about the feelings of connectivity to the road, and the speed that comes along with it, in order to maintain a good standing with a motorcycle insurance company, it is important that bikers do their best to avoid any and all speeding tickets. While tickets will not cause them to lose their insurance immediately, they could face significantly higher premiums.