You’re driving along in your car, come to a stop sign, make a rolling stop, and then speed off, driving slightly over the speed limit…
Then you look at your rearview mirror and see the flashing blue and red lights of a police cruiser. It’s time to pull over for the nice officer.
You know you messed up. You know you might get a ticket for failing to stop, or a ticket for speeding, or BOTH!!!
The officer has discretion. He can charge you with one or both of the offenses. Or he doesn’t even have to charge you with any of the two. Hopefully, he lets you off with a warning.
Well, in this case, the officer just gives you ticket for speeding. He also tells you that he reduced the charge. There will be no demerit points and, so, he tells you that it won’t affect your insurance…
If that’s what the officer tells you, he’s WRONG… Every Highway Traffic Act (HTA) ticket affects your insurance.
You see, cops aren’t insurance experts. They’re trained in the Highway Traffic Act, among other things, but are not trained insurance professionals. They may think that tickets with no demerit points won’t affect your insurance rates, but that’s not the case.
Now that you know that every ticket affects your insurance rate, you should know that not every ticket is created equal. Insurance companies classify tickets according to severity – From minor, to major, to serious. And, the more tickets you have on your record, the more you’ll pay to be insured.
With that said, here’s a list of HTA tickets (Actually, a few are actually criminal code convictions) and how the insurance company classifies each one (This is not an exhaustive list – There are more tickets than this. Also note that all insurance companies are different and what may be a minor ticket with one insurance company may be a serious ticket with another. But, for the most part, this is how the tickets are classified):
Minor Convictions:
Speeding – 49 km/h over the limit or less
Backing up – Unsafe/illegal/improper
Brakes – None/inadequate/improper
Crowding driver’s seat
Disobeying flagman
Door opening – Illegal/obstructing traffic
Driving off roadway (including shoulder/sidewalk/median)
Headlights/parking lights – Improper/lack of use
Having open alcohol in the car
Fail or refuse to surrender license
Fail to produce evidence of insurance
Fail to carry insurance card
Fail to have insurance card
Fail to disclose particulars
Fail to notify police
Gail to make written report
Emergency vehicle – Operating with no regard for safety
Driving imprudently
Driving off roadway
Flagman – Disobeying
Following too closely
Headlights/Parking light – Improper/Lack of use
Lack of control of vehicle
Motor-assisted bicycle – Carrying passengers
Motorcycle – Operating with only an instruction permit
Motorcycle – Failure to wear helmet
Passing infraction (Except school bus/school zone)
Pedestrian crossing violation
Radar warning device in motor vehicle
Railway crossing
Safety zone violation
Seatbelt
Fail to signal
Slow driving
Smokescreen device on vehicle
Squealing tires
Stopping – Illegal/improper
Defective/Worn tires
Prohibited/unsafe towing
Disobey traffic sign
Tires – Defectiveéworn
Trailer – Improper attachments/Improper towing
Prohibited turn
Drive with improper license class
Unsafe move
Unsafe towing
Unsafe vehicle
Using a hand-held wireless communication device (Update: some insurance companies consider this to be major ticket now).
Drive on wrong side of road
Fail to yield
Major Convictions:
Failing to report an accident
Failing to give name and license number after an accident
Improper passing of a school bus
Speeding in a school zone
Produce false evidence
False Statement regarding insurance
Produce false insurance
Make false statement
Permit unlicensed driver in contravention of conditions
Violation of any class G1, G2, M1, or M2 conditions (Other than alcohol-related)
Failure to stop for police officer
Failure to stop for emergency vehicles
Fail to report damage to highway property
Serious Convictions:
Criminal negligence with a motor vehicle
Vehicular manslaughter
Driving while license is suspended
Racing
Stunting
Careless driving
Driving without due care and attention
Driving without insurance
Operate motor vehicle – No insurance
Vehicle owner without insurance
No insurance
Dangerous driving
Impaired driving
Failure to submit to a breath or blood test
Over .08 blood-alcohol level
Driving without an interlock device where it is required
Speeding – 50 km/h or more over the limit
Failure to remain at the scene of an accident
Class G1, G2, M1, M2 – Fail to provide breath sample
Class G1, G2, M1, M2 – Drive with alcohol in blood
*** On a side note, cops cannot give you HTA tickets in a parking lot, as the HTA only covers roadways. They can, however, charge you with a criminal code conviction in a parking lot, as the Criminal Code covers all of Canada. Notwithstanding, just drive safely, no matter where you are.
Cheap car insurance rates.
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