KSL Investigates how various citations impact what we pay for auto insurance

SALT LAKE CITY — Three-day weekends tend to bring a little extra umph from the men and women charged with keeping Utah’s streets and highways safe and moving.

If you end up with a citation this Labor Day weekend, you can expect a little extra umph in what you have to pay for insurance — perhaps longer than you might think, said Danielle Marchell with The Zebra.

“Most drivers don’t realize that once you do commit a driving infraction, that’s actually going to stay with you and your insurance company for the next three years,” she said.

Marchell shared some of their data with the KSL Investigators, which show certain traffic crimes carry a steep insurance penalty.

A DUI citation comes with a 65.5% premium increase, which costs about $971 per year.

Racing citations raise rates by 67.2%, which adds up to $997 annually.

And a hit and run comes with a 73% insurance bump, costing the driver $1,083 per year.

Those are some of the bigger traffic violations, so it makes sense they would flag a driver as a bigger risk to their insurance company, but really, any citation is going to increase rates and stick around, Zebra found.

Infractions like speeding, following too close, failing to yield or texting will have the cited driver paying 20-30% more for several years.

“Forget about just paying off that one time ticket and doing traffic school, you’re still going to continue to pay out for the next three years,” Marchell said. “Bottom line is that that how you drive component is all in your control.”

As the KSL Investigators have reported, what you pay for insurance has a lot to do with things not in the driver’s immediate control, like where he or she lives, the car’s value and even the driver’s credit score.

Auto insurance rates in Utah are a little below the national average. Utah ranks 34th on the list of which state’s drivers pay the most.