I've long held the opinion that it was not the ticket, not the fine, not the demerits and not the disqualification that was worth worrying about. They are events that have attached to them fixed penalties and fixed timeframes. A fine is simple - pay the money and it's over. Demerits mean nothing unless you get over 100. And even when you do get disq, if you have my mentality, that just means you don't get stopped for X months. So none of these really have any impact on you as such.
I've always said I was scared of my insurers. They are the ones who arbitrarily decide what my premiums will be, what my excess will be, and whether I can even get insurance cover in the first place. And it is on the basis of the driving history that they do so. And my driving history also impacts on my family, because after all we share vehicles so I have to be covered, and if the terms are adverse then they often have to suffer too.
Since my driving history has always read like a novel (a legacy of the young man/fast car/bad attitude days), I've always ended up having lengthy and sometimes frustrating discussions with insurers. When my partner and I got serious and bought a "mutual" car a year or two back, we went with her insurer because she had a guaranteed no claim bonus for life. I got a $1500 excess and a nice clause saying if I got another ticket then I would no longer be covered. I figure if I'm at fault then I don't mind coughing up $1,500. And when we insured the 2nd car with them a few months later, the terms were continued. And when I insured the bike, the terms were carried over too. All fine by me.
You may (or may not) recall a wee thread I started a few months ago where I outlined my ticket for lanesplitting. Since I was in a "good boy" phase, I stopped and took my beans. And never bothered contesting the ticket because I figured $150 tax was fair enough for two years plus of complete tax avoidance.
So today when I rang my insurer to cover our third car, I was a good boy and when asked disclosed my ticket two months ago. I'm sorry, sir, we cannot cover you anymore. You now have no cover as a driver of any of the cars or the bike.
First ticket I've had in probably 3 years (or more). A piddly little $150 fine for lanesplitting. Something many of us do, particularly the regular commuters. Now look at the consequences. What have I learned from this? Ironically I bear no malice against the police for this, but sadly they and the general public will also wear the consequences too, for the likelihood of me getting any more piddly little tickets is now all but zero.
I share this for those who choose to read it. If you don't like my opinion, just remember no one forced you to read it.
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Originally Posted by Motu
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