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Last updated: August 11, 2023
How a Speeding Ticket Impacts Your Insurance in Kansas
In Kansas, speeding won’t necessarily result in a moving violation or higher insurance rates.
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Kansas is surprisingly lax about speeding zones and limits. A brochure from the state’s Department of Transportation says that “speed itself is not a major cause of accidents” and that speed laws lack public support, encourage violations, and do not bring desirable changes in driving behaviors.
Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why, on the state’s highways, Kansas provides “buffers” in which you can drive over the speed limit without incurring a moving violation or an auto insurance premium increase. However, that’s not the case on Kansas’ local roads, governed by municipalities. Let’s take a closer look.
How a Speeding Ticket Affects Car Insurance Rates
On average, car insurance premiums in Kansas for drivers with a speeding ticket on their record are about 20 percent more than those for drivers with a clean driving record. Take these averages with a grain of salt, though, as many factors affect the cost of car insurance beyond your driving record, like your ZIP code, credit score, etc.
| Average annual cost of car insurance in Kansas by company | Clean driving record | Record with speeding ticket | Percentage difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allstate | $2,629 | $3,082 | 17% |
| American Family | $1,871 | $1,929 | 3% |
| Auto-Owners | $1,631 | $2,385 | 46% |
| Dairyland | $2,547 | $3,040 | 19% |
| Electric Insurance | $2,251 | $2,454 | 9% |
| Encompass | $1,516 | $1,740 | 15% |
| Farmers | $1,433 | $1,821 | 27% |
| Farmers Union Insurance | $1,666 | $2,027 | 22% |
| Iowa Farm Bureau | $1,532 | $1,742 | 14% |
| Nationwide | $1,217 | $1,322 | 9% |
| Safe Auto | $2,863 | $3,865 | 35% |
| Shelter | $2,447 | $2,976 | 22% |
| State Farm | $1,339 | $1,558 | 16% |
As long as a speeding ticket stays on your driving record, it will raise your car insurance costs, so expect a rate increase for up to three years. To avoid this, simply don’t speed in the first place. It’s not worth the penalties.
Find Cheap Insurance After a Speeding Ticket
Is it possible to get cheap car insurance in Kansas with a speeding ticket on your record? While your premium will be higher than when you had a clean record, here’s how to keep it as low as possible.
Get Minimum Coverage
Minimum coverage will always be the cheapest option no matter what state you live in. In Kansas, that consists of:
- $25,000 of bodily injury liability coverage per person
- $50,000 of bodily injury liability coverage per accident
- $25,000 of property damage liability coverage per accident
- Personal injury protection:
- $2,500 per person for medical expenses
- $900 per month, for up to one year, for loss of income or disability
- $25 per day for in-home services
- $2,000 for cremation, burial, or funeral expenses
- $2,500 for rehabilitation expenses
- $25,000 of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage per person
- $50,000 of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage per accident1
These coverages are pretty extensive, but note that if you cause an accident or if your car is stolen or damaged by a non-collision event, minimum coverage won’t reimburse you for your property damage. That’s why we recommend getting full coverage insurance, which includes comprehensive and collision coverage.
Raise Your Deductibles
If you end up going with collision and comprehensive coverage, you can lower your premium by raising the deductible — the amount you’ll pay before your insurance provider contributes.
TIP:
Don’t raise your deductible too much. If the number is too high, you may be unable to afford to pay it, rendering your insurance coverage useless.
Drop Add-ons
While full-coverage insurance is essential in our book, you can drop add-ons like roadside assistance, rental car coverage, and new-car replacement coverage.
Lower Your Limits
Rather than dropping coverages, lowering your limits is another way to keep insurance costs down. But similar to the downside of minimum coverage, the lower your limits are, the more you could owe out of pocket on a claim.
Ask for Discounts
Ask your agent which insurance discounts apply to you. For example, you could get price reductions for enrolling in a telematics program and driving safely, having a student in your family with good grades, or belonging to a professional organization. Even something as easy as bundling home and auto insurance could save you up to 25 percent with some providers.
Improve Your Credit
In Kansas, someone with bad credit will pay more for insurance than someone with good credit, as car insurance companies consider them to be a high-risk driver. While insurers in Kansas can’t refuse to quote, cancel, reject, or deny any policy based solely on credit information, they can partially determine a premium based on credit score.2 Improving your credit score could help lower your car insurance premium, so make sure you pay bills on time and avoid debt.
The Cost of a Speeding Ticket in Kansas
How much a speeding ticket will cost you depends on where the violation occurred: on a state highway, municipal highway, or road.
State Highways
First, it’s essential to understand Kansas’ “speeding buffers,” the number of miles per hour (mph) you can drive over the speed limit without getting ticketed.3
NOTE:
Speeding buffers do not apply to commercial vehicles, only those used for personal reasons.
| 6 mph buffer | 10 mph buffer |
|---|---|
| 30-54 | 55-85 |
In other words, even if you’re doing 95 mph in an 85 mph zone, you won’t get a moving violation on your driving record if you’re on a state highway. That means insurance companies can’t charge you more, or cancel your policy, due to this level of speeding.4
All that said, if you’re caught driving faster than 6 mph over the speed limit in a 30 to 54 mph zone or more than 10 mph over the limit in a 55 to 85 mph zone, you’ll face a reckless driving charge, which means driving in “willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.” Depending on any previous convictions, a reckless driving conviction will result in a fine, imprisonment, or both, as well as either a license suspension, restriction, or revocation.
| Conviction number | Maximum length of imprisonment | Fine | License |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5-90 days | $25-$500 | Either 90-day revocation or 90-day to 1-year suspension/restriction |
| 2 and subsequent | 10 days-6 months | $50-$500 | Either 90-day revocation or 90-day to 1-year suspension/restriction |
With a restricted license, you are allowed to drive but only to and from:
- Any court-required place
- Appointment with a healthcare provider
- Drug or alcohol counseling
- Medical emergency
- School
- Work
On the plus side, once your license is reinstated, you won’t need to get an SR-22 form — a certificate that proves you have minimum coverage. While this is required in some states, it’s not in Kansas.
Local Roads
What about speeding ticket costs on local roads? Those will depend entirely on the municipality, but take the rates in Gardner, Kansas, below as an example.5
| Mph over speed limit | Fine (does not include $50 court cost) | Fine in school or construction zone (does not include $50 court cost) |
|---|---|---|
| 1-4 | $30 | $60 |
| 5 | $45 | $90 |
| 6 | $46 | $92 |
| 7 | $50 | $100 |
| 8 | $51 | $102 |
| 9 | $60 | $120 |
| 10 | $65 | $130 |
| 11 | $70 | $140 |
| 12 | $75 | $150 |
| 13 | $80 | $160 |
| 14 | $85 | $170 |
| 15 | $90 | $180 |
| 16 | $95 | $190 |
| 17 | $100 | $200 |
| 18 | $105 | $210 |
| 19 | $110 | $220 |
| 20 | $120 | $240 |
| 21 | $130 | $260 |
| 22 | $140 | $280 |
| 23 | $150 | $300 |
| 24 | $160 | $320 |
| 25 | $170 | $340 |
| 26 | $180 | $360 |
| 27 | $190 | $380 |
| 28 | $200 | $400 |
| 29 | $210 | $420 |
| 30 | $230 | $460 |
| 31 | $250 | $500 |
| 32 | $270 | $540 |
| 33 | $290 | $580 |
| 34 | $310 | $620 |
| 35 | $330 | $660 |
| 36 | $350 | $700 |
| 37 | $370 | $740 |
| 38 | $390 | $780 |
| 39 | $410 | $820 |
| 40 | $430 | $860 |
In this municipality, fines double if you were speeding over the limit in a school or construction zone. Check out your municipality’s website to see how much a speeding ticket could cost you.
What to Do After a Speeding Ticket
Assuming you believe the speeding ticket was just, you’ll pay the ticket fee to your state or local government. See below for information on paying a fine to the Kansas Highway Patrol.6
| County where ticket was issued | Mailing address | Telephone number | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson | N/A | 888-877-0450 | https://public.jococourts.org/ |
| All other counties | Centralized Court Payment Center
P.O. Box 750200 Topeka, Kansas 66675-0200 |
785-368-7070 | https://prodportal.kscourts.org/prodportal |
Your ticket should include information on it about how to pay your fine.
If you believe the speeding ticket was not just, you can plead either not guilty, meaning you weren’t violating laws, or no contest, meaning you did violate the laws but under mitigating circumstances. An attorney can represent you in court; the court will appoint an attorney for you if you cannot afford one. From there, the judge will make a judgment and set a penalty accordingly.
More Traffic Violations That Affect Car Insurance
There are many other traffic violations that could raise the rate of your car insurance premium in Kansas, such as:
- Driving in violation of an ignition interlock restriction
- Driving under the influence (DUI)
- Driving while license is revoked, canceled, or suspended
- Driving without insurance
- Eluding or attempting to elude a police officer
- Leaving the scene of an injury accident or non-injury accident
- Unlawful possession of a controlled substance
Conclusion
Despite the state’s skepticism about the danger of speeding, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data from 2011 to 2021 shows that 27 percent of all fatal crashes in Kansas involved speeding, with a high of 35 percent in 2015. Young drivers were shown to speed more than other age groups. In this period, 38 percent of fatal crashes with drivers age 15 to 20 involved speeding, and hit a high of 55 percent in 2015.
Even though you won’t necessarily get ticketed or penalized for speeding on Kansas highways, assuming you’re within the buffer, we recommend following the speed limits to lessen your risk of property damages, injuries, and, in the worst-case scenario, death.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do speeding tickets stay on your record in Kansas?
Speeding tickets stay on your record for three years in Kansas, according to the state’s Department of Revenue.
How do I get a speeding ticket off my record in Kansas?
You’ll have to wait three years before you can get a speeding ticket off your record in Kansas. Once that time has passed and you’ve either satisfied the sentence; have been discharged from parole, a suspended sentence, or probation; or fulfilled the terms of the deferred/diversion judgment agreement, you can file an expungement form with your municipal court. Most likely, you’ll have to pay a filing fee to submit your form to the municipal court.
From there, you’ll attend a hearing unless an attorney attends on your behalf. If you’ve satisfied the requirements, the municipal court judge will sign an order for expungement, and the speeding ticket will be removed from your record.
How many speeding tickets can you get before you lose your license in Kansas?
You could have your license suspended, restricted, or revoked after only one speeding ticket in Kansas if you were convicted of a reckless driving charge. Your license would be revoked for 90 days or suspended or restricted for anywhere from 90 days to a year, according to the Kansas Department of Revenue.
How do I check my Kansas license points?
You can view your Drivers License Record on the Kansas Department of Revenue’s website at https://www.kansas.gov/mvr/search/index. You’ll have to sign in with your username and password (or first create an account if you haven’t already).
If retrieving your record online is not an option for you, email kdor_dc@ks.gov, call 785-296-3671 Tuesday to Thursday between 8:10 a.m. and 4:45 p.m., or fax 785-296-6851.
Senior Writer & Editor
A seasoned journalist and content strategist with over 10 years of editorial experience in digital media, Aliza Vigderman has written and edited hundreds of articles on the site, covering everything from plan coverages to discounts to state laws. Previously, she was a senior editor and industry analyst at the home and digital security website Security.org, previously called Security Baron. She has also contributed to The Huffington Post, SquareFoot, and Degreed. Aliza studied journalism at Brandeis University.
Citations
Introduction to Auto Insurance. Kansas Insurance Department. (2023).
https://insurance.kansas.gov/auto-insurance/2019 Statute. Kansas Legislative Sessions. (2019).
http://kslegislature.org/li_2020/b2019_20/Speeding Buffers. Kansas Department of Revenue. (2011, Jul).
https://www.ksrevenue.gov/courts/education/SpeedingBuffers.pdf8-1560d. Certain violations of maximum speed limits not public record; not to be considered for liability insurance. Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. (2023).
https://www.ksrevisor.org/statutes/chapters/ch08/008_015_0060d.htmlSPEEDING FINE SCHEDULE. Gardner Kansas. (2023).
https://www.gardnerkansas.gov/government/departments-and-divisions-/municipal-court/speeding-fine-schedulePay a Ticket or Check the Status of your Driver’s License. Kansas Highway Patrol. (2023).
https://kansashighwaypatrol.org/find-a-troop/pay-a-ticket-or-check-license/
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