asmac

If you are ticketed on a bike (going through a stop sign or some such) do car insurance companies put this on your insurance record and hike your rates accordingly? Perhaps they wouldn't find out if you don't offer up your driver's license but that could be seen as misleading your insurer which can have extremely bad consequences. Does anyone have experience with this?

dougmc

The answer to your question is going to vary locally. Really, I'd suggest asking your local DMV or it's equivalent and your insurance company.

Here in Texas, if you read the law and procedures carefully, violations that aren't on a motor vehicle should not go on your driving record, and therefore should not be picked up by your insurance. That said -- Austin's police department is apparently putting them on your driving record, so your insurance would pick them up.

I imagine that somebody could fight this if they tried, but I don't know if anybody has.

But what the case is where you live ... no clue.

njkayaker

If a ticket produces points against your driver's license, your car insurance company will (likely) see the points.

You should be able to check with the DMV to see if you have any points associated with your driver's license.

AltheCyclist

A quick Google found this (from https://www.sfbike.org/?bikelaw_ticket_faq - appears to be SanFran probike non-profit, so might apply to other California areas)

Will this ticket result in points on my automobile insurance?

Moving violations incurred while operating a bicycle should not count against your automobile insurance rating. Make sure that any citation you receive while driving your bicycle notes that it is for a bicycle violation – there is usually a box on the citation form to indicate the type of vehicle being operated. If you don't find "bicycle" noted, ask to have this corrected.

asmac

Fortunately it's just hypothetical at this point. I do know that violations without points are the same as those with points from an insurance p.o.v.

glockenspieler

Unfortunately speaking from experience, it is not uncommon for bike tickets to end up being entered as vehicle violations. In Georgia, the rate of bike tickets is sufficiently low that during the manual entry of tickets, it is extremely easy for bike tickets to become vehicle violations. I strongly urge you to check with the DMV to verify that bike tickets have not been transformed to vehicle tickets. At least in GA, bike tickets do not count against your license and do not appear in reports generated by car insurance companies.

njkayaker

????

Parking tickets don't have points (in the US) and don't effect your insurance. At least in NJ (it would be odd if it was different in other US states).

It appears you are from Canada.

If you are asking these sorts of "legalish" questions, you should state your location. Most of the users here appear to be in the US.

Fargo Wolf

Nope. Not here (BC, Canada), as bikes aren't covered by any form of vehicle insurance.

dougmc

While your answer may very well be correct (or may not -- I don't know), your reasoning given comes across as an "this is how I think it ought to be" sort of statement rather than any sort of authoritative answer to the question. Have any citations to back it up?

asmac

What do parking tickets have to do with it? And yes, I am from Canada as my location info states. I expect that private insurance companies use the same general rules in both countries.

And I don't know about all other jurisdictions but here it is possible to get a ticket (e.g. speeding <15km) without getting points. People don't generally know it but insurance companies don't care about that -- a ticket is a ticket and a chance to raise your rates.

njkayaker

People probably don't always look at the location field. You're asking for help; make it easier for people and indicate where you live for these sorts of questions. You'll get better answers that way.

This is not a sound assumption.

In the US, no points means there won't be an effect on one's auto insurance. And it's common that you have to have a certain number of points (often about 3) before there is an effect on your insurance. And insurance companies may give you a pass for some number of points if, for example, you are a long-time customer with a long period of no violations. And, the behavior of companies varies by state too.

Different states have different point schedules and different rules about whether bicycle violations cause points on one's driver's license.

dougmc

And you can't even make that assumption. After all, the US has 50 states (and a few territories) all with their own individual laws. And insurance companies may have their own policies -- though of course they're limited by what information the state in question will give on their clients.

I do believe that your statement is generally true, but I wouldn't assume it's true everywhere in the US.

njkayaker

Any advice given for these sorts of locality-dependent things is always a generalization.

The final authority is your policy or local laws. Not posts on an internet forum.

This should all be obvious. It's deeply strange that it isn't.

And I didn't. You apparently missed the rest of my post that indicated that things can be complicated.

You can probably assume that the trend will be towards more and more detailed information within-state (and between states).

asmac

I wasn't really looking for insurance advice on Bicycle Forums, just thought it might be an interesting topic. Maybe not.
Re the points thing, I'd be interested to know if what you say re common US rules is true. Most people here would say the same thing (i.e. that only points matter) but insurance companies act otherwise and are only interested in convictions. Points apply when the authorities look at suspending your license or some such sanction.
It bothers me to not know with some certainty how this system operates -- it would be a big problem if my insurance doubled or tripled because I rode on the sidewalk or went through a 4-way stop on my bike.

njkayaker

In the US, you only get points if you are convicted. Clearly, some infractions are deemed more serious than others and points (in the US) are an attempt to standardize that. In the US, the insurance companies don't look directly at the number of tickets (convictions) but at the number of points (which is, obviously, dependent on the number of tickets). In some US states, certain bicycle infractions can add points to your driver's license.

rekmeyata

If you break a vehicle code, like failure to stop for a signal or posted sign, then yes it will go on your record and can effect your insurance costs. Most states, if not all, the first ticket in a 3 year period is a non issue, but get a second one in a 3 year period then it becomes an issue for insurance companies. So if your state will allow you to take traffic school and have the points removed then do so, but only for the second ticket, don't waste your time with traffic school on the first offense.

alhedges

Not all states give points, though...and at least in those states, obviously, traffic violations without points can still affect your insurance rates.

Looigi

Massachusetts cycling regulations:

""A police officer shall use the ticketing procedure described in chapter 90C to cite a bicyclist for a traffic law violation but the violation shall not affect the status of the bicyclist’s license to operate a motor vehicle nor shall it affect the bicyclist’s status in the safe driver insurance plan. When a citation is issued to a bicyclist, it shall be clearly indicated on the ticket that the violator is a bicyclist, and failure to do so shall be a defense to the violation.""

njkayaker

HI
MS
KS
LA
MN
RI
WA
WY

Don't have point systems.

OR basically gives all moving-violation tickets the same points.

https://www.dmv.org/point-system.php

fietsbob

Oregon every stop and verbal incident is recorded . and available to interested parties ,
like rate setting clerks in Insurance companies .. none run charities.

jimblairo

In Quebec you get demerit points for cycling infractions. By law you must identify yourself and the data base will tell the cop if you have a drivers license.

Chris516

It depends on whether you have a drivers' license, and a motorized vehicle.

Coal Buster

In NJ, if you get a moving violation and agree in court to pay a large fine to avoid points, it's true that it will not be reported to your insurance co. If you change insurance companies, however, the original violation will show up on your driving abstract and raise your rates with the new company.

DogBoy

Most insurance carriers will pull your MVR or a proxy for your MVR. Various states have rules that dictate what can and cannot be used for insurance pricing. I have not seen bicycle violations on the exemption list in any state (but I don't work with all states). If the violation goes on your record, it will be caught and you will be charged. Even the approach Coal Buster mentions won't work universially since there are now vendors reporting violations from court activity in addition to MVR changes directly.

Keith99

In California you can take traffic school and this keeps an ordinary ticket off your record. You can only do this once every 18 months.

There are no tickets on my record.