Bakersfield Car Insurance + DUI = Bad Combination
Spare Yourself the Bakersfield Car Insurance Increase and Avoid a DUI
Actually, avoid drinking and driving altogether, don’t think that your Bakersfield car insurance premiums will be okay as long as you don’t get caught. One day your luck will run out, and you will get caught. But, will you get caught by a police officer and just have the DUI mess increase your Bakersfield car insurance premium?
Or will you get caught when you run over a pedestrian or cause a car accident because you were too slow to respond?
Besides, in Kern County, Bakersfield makes up 34% of all alcohol related car accident injuries and 33% of all alcohol related car accident fatalities (California Highway Patrol 2010 statistics). So you can be sure that law enforcement is keeping a watchful eye on Bakersfield.
The After Effects of a DUI
Once you get a DUI, you can be guaranteed that your Bakersfield car insurance premium will increase. In fact, you will be lucky if your old insurance company takes you back after a DUI. Insurance companies don’t like clients that drive when they are under the influence. These clients cause expensive car accidents and are a huge money loss to insurance companies.
But, your Bakersfield car insurance is just one of the things you will see problems with after a DUI.
You will also receive an automatic 4-month driver’s license suspension for your first offense and a 1-year long suspension for any offense after that.
After Your Suspension
Once your driver’s license suspension is lifted and you can drive again, you will have to have an SR22 filing with your Bakersfield car insurance. The SR22 is a California Insurance Proof Certificate that verifies that you have insurance coverage, and it costs extra to have with your insurance policy.
In addition to having to have the SR22 on your Bakersfield car insurance policy, remember you need to have at least the following coverages:
- Property damage liability coverage of $5,000
- Bodily injury liability coverage of $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident
Failure to keep the above minimum requirements for car insurance as dictated by California State Law will result in even more problems with the state on top of the DUI problems you already have. So to save yourself and your Bakersfield car insurance premiums from being in a big mess, just don’t drive after you have been drinking.
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