Out of State Moving Violation & Driver's record

[iEngineer]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania

Hello: I received a moving violation in Ohio over the weekend while visiting some family for Easter and received a citation for violating 4511.43(a) of the Ohio Revised Code (Stop sign violation). The officer didn't dispute the fact that I stopped, but insisted that I didn't have sufficient clearance to make my right turn onto the highway. My case is that there was a hill that limited my view, for as far as I could see (which wasn't much) I was clear, but immediately after entering the intersection I saw traffic coming up over the hill. I had reached 40 MPH before the traffic was immediately behind me (Speed limit is 55 on this road) but I still received a citation.

I've considered pleading not guilty and fighting it in court to see what happens, but to do this will involve traveling 2 hours from my house to enter the not guilty plea, then the court decides the date for the bench trial where I'd have to return to court again to plead my case. This is based on the pamphlet I received along with the citation.

As you can imagine going twice is an inconvenience. My main concern is points on my license and increased insurance premiums. So I'm looking for some advice/input on how this process works given that the violation occurred in Ohio. Will my insurance company find out about this? and if so How? It is my understanding that both PA and Ohio are members of the Drivers License Compact. According to #3 on the FAQ sheet PennDOT publishes for the DLC, it states that minor things such as a stop sign violation are reported from DLC states, but they will not appear on my PA Driving record and points will not be assessed on my PA license.

Can anyone offer some input or advice based on your knowledge of out of state violations with insurance or other license related issues associated with minor traffic violations.

 

[FlyingRon]

Very few states have statutory restrictions on how insurance rates are calculated. Insurance companies have their own scoring as to how convictions and accidents figure into your rates. Given the prevalence of computer database access, one must assume that your insurance will hear about and correlate with your policy any infractions from any state.

The DLC has absolutely SQUAT to do with insurance. All that says is that they will exchange certain information between DMVs and take action on the most serious (DUI, vehicular homicide) cases.

 

[iEngineer]

That makes sense, I just wasn't sure if they only looked at your drivers record since it sounded like minor out of state violations won't be put on that.

So what is your opinion on how often they search those databases for their drivers? My insurance is up in mid-May, and I just received my renewal notification in the mail today. Do you think they search these periodically throughout the year or just on renewals/policy changes? I'm sure its in the policy that they can search anytime but I wasn't sure if there was a typical practice.

I'd hate to miss work for two days to try to fight this, but I'd also hate for them to raise my rate next month and for a few years because of something so minor.

On the pamphlet I received from Ohio it says they have this traffic safety diversion program. Basically it says you pay your fine + $50 for the program and the Court won't report this violation to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Do you think this program would keep me out of whatever databases the insurance companies search as well, or is it inevitable that they'll find out?

 

[FlyingRon]

They're always looking. As soon as your policy is up for renewal (six months in most cases), they'll rescore it based on whatever convictions you have.