Young males cannot afford traffic tickets because they already pay more in insurance premiums than everyone else except bad drivers, so when they put themselves in the bad driver group they lose their one clear advantage, the “good drivers” discount.

How Insurance Premiums Are Determined

Insurance companies in CA base automobile insurance premiums on several factors, such as where you live or park your car, how far you drive to work, what kind of car you drive, deductibles, your driving record, age, gender, and marital status. California, unlike some other states, cannot use your credit history to determine premiums, so that’s a plus for young males.

However, living in LA is more expensive than smaller cities like Bakersfield and even the zip code within LA makes a difference in how much you pay. 90029 has the highest average premium of any CA zip code at $2,416 per year, but there’s a $1460 difference between the lowest premium of $1,730 and the highest in that zip code, which is $3,190.

The higher your deductible the lower your premium and the replacement value of car makes a difference too. Therefore, a single male, under 25 with no deductible that parks his new Mercedes convertible in 90029, most likely pays the most for car insurance; in fact, the difference between an 18-year-old male and an 18-year-old female when everything else is the same is nearly $500 per year and doesn’t even out until age 25.

However, the biggest other contributing factor is your driving record. Once you lose your good driver’s discount, you automatically pay 20% more, plus whatever caused you to lose that discount will figure into the premium rate at renewal. Proposition 103, mandates insurance companies give drivers who have been continuously licensed for three years, with only one point or less on their license, after all other factors are considered a 20% reduction. Add the fines and penalties for those traffic tickets and you know why we say, “Young Males Can’t Afford Traffic Tickets.” Plus, if you lose your license to traffic tickets, you’ll likely lose your job, as well.

No DL, No Job, No Money

The downward cycle starts with those very first traffic tickets for young male drivers. John Doe just finished college and moved to LA from North Carolina where he attended NC State and his family still lives. He could attend college because of a full football scholarship and he worked as a night-shift guard at a large pharmaceutical processing plant.

After graduation, he was promised a job in LA, but the interview did not go well and instead of moving back home he took another job on the docks in Long Beach as a night security guard, the pay wasn’t great but he was getting by and even had a nice apartment.

The trouble really started for him with his first traffic tickets. He got two the same day, one early in the day, a red-light ticket for turning right without making a full stop, which he was sure he had done and the next because he was running late for work coming back from seeing his girl and got caught for speeding over 100 mph on I-5.

After talking to his girlfriend, he figured out his fines would be over $2000 and he just couldn’t afford it. It wasn’t long before his license was suspended and when his employer found out he was terminated, even though he had never driven on his job, his employer said they couldn’t keep him if he didn’t have a license, company policy.

Fight Your Traffic Tickets, Break the Cycle

Just before Christmas, he was talking to his father and the subject of money came up. He nearly cried when he told his father what had happened with the traffic tickets and why he was working at Burger King instead of the pharmaceutical company he had come to LA to work for; his father told him he would send him some money but he wanted him to hire an attorney and get his license back. His father said, “A young man without a driver’s license will never amount to anything. High paying jobs require a driver’s license. To an employer, if you don’t have a driver’s license, it means you are not responsible or trustworthy.” His grandfather had been a trucker his whole life, so he kind of understood what his father was saying.

Later, his girlfriend told him about a friend who had gotten a ticket for speeding and Bigger & Harman had gotten it reduced so she paid a small fine and no points. So, he Googled Bigger & Harman and found some very promising comments on Yelp about them. He decided to call them for a free phone consultation. Mr. Bigger was easy to talk to and he was upfront about how much it would cost, but he really didn’t have much choice if he wanted to break the cycle and get his license and job back.

The first thing Mr. Bigger did was get the FTA resolved, and then he called to tell him that the law enforcement officer (LEO) who ticketed him for speeding over 100 mph had retired and he got that ticket dismissed. So now, it was just a matter of the red-light ticket and they had a court date for that. Sure, it cost him money for attorney fees, but not as much as he would have had to pay the courts and things were looking up.

Hire a Traffic Ticket Attorney in LA or Bakersfield

Bigger & Harman represent clients in San Bernardino, SLO, Riverside, and LA County and other SoCal locations, as well as most Central Valley Counties. Read the 4.7 out of 5 stars write up at Nolo.com and discover this Central Valley Traffic Ticket Law Firm.

Bigger & Harman offer you a free phone consult with no obligation, 661-349-9300. Additionally, they represent clients with traffic tickets in Lamont, Bishop, Delano, Bakersfield, Shafter, Fresno, and many other County Courthouses in Central Valley. For a convenient and confidential consultation, use their website contact form, or email attorney@markbigger.com.

You can even contact them now on their Facebook page.