If you are caught driving 75 mph or more on a two-lane road or 85 mph or above on any road or highway in Georgia, you will be deemed a “Super Speeder.” This means you will be hit with an additional $200 fine on top of whatever local fines you must pay for a ticket.
In addition to forking over some serious money for fines, you can expect a much higher car insurance cost. Here’s what you need to know about getting a Super Speeder ticket in Georgia.
- A Super Speeder ticket in Georgia will not add any points to your license, but you’ll have to pay extra fines and fees.
- A Super Speeder violation in Georgia will result in a fine of $200.
- You will see an increase in your insurance rates at renewal if you are ticketed for going 30 mph over the speed limit.
- If you’re convicted under the Super Speeder law, the violation will stay on your record for about 35 months or under three years.
What is the Georgia Super Speeder law?
Named HB160, the Super Speeder law was enacted on Jan. 1, 2010. It says that speeders become Super Speeder when they are cited for driving 75 mph or more on a two-lane road or 85 mph or more on any road or highway in the Peach State.
The purpose of Georgia’s Super Speeder law is to discourage dangerous and illegal driving. The fees and fines collected under this law are used to help fund Georgia’s trauma care hospital system.
How much is a Super Speeder ticket in Georgia?
A Super Speeder fine will arrive in the mail from the state via first-class mail and will set you back $200. But the costs won’t end there – you will also pay fines and fees to the jurisdiction where the offense occurred.
The final cost could be significant depending on how fast you were going and which county you were in. In Hinesville, Georgia, the cost of a ticket for going 24 mph or more over the limit is $688, so once you add in the $200 for the Super Speeder fine, you are paying nearly $900.
What happens if you don’t pay a Super Speeder fine?
If you fail to pay a Super Speeder fine within 120 days of the official notice, your driver’s license, permit or driving privileges in Georgia will be suspended and your driving privileges revoked. In addition to the other fines and fees, you’ll have to pay $50 to reinstate your license.
Will a Super Speeder designation add points to my license?
The Super Speeder violation is less of a ticket and more of a fine. A Super Speeder fine will not add any points to your license beyond what the standard ticket gave you, so while the Super Speeder designation doesn’t put points on your license, the original violation probably will.
According to the Georgia Department of Driver Services, you can expect at least 2 points for speeding, which can run up to 6 points if you are cranking it down the highway.
Here is how many points you can expect by how fast you are going over the limit:
- 15-18 mph: 2 points
- 19-23 mph: 3 points
- 24-33 mph: 4 points
- 34+ mph: 6 points
Drivers in Georgia who have accumulated 15 points in a 24-month period will have their licenses suspended.
Do you have to go to court for a Super Speeder ticket in Georgia?
In most cases, a Super Speeder ticket doesn’t require a court appearance; it simply requires paying fines and fees through the mail. Remember that the state of Georgia considers the payment of a fine to be an admission of guilt to a Super Speeder offense.
However, if you are older than 21 and receive a citation for a more serious driving offense in addition to the Super Speeder violation, you will most likely be required to make a court appearance.
These driving offenses will most likely require going to court:
- Reckless driving
- Aggressive driving
- DUI
- Vehicular homicide
- Hit and run
- Possession of marijuana
- Fleeing or attempting to elude
- Leaving the scene of an accident
- Racing
- Illegal passing of a school bus
- Driving with a suspended license
How do Super Speeder tickets affect car insurance rates?
If you are ticketed for going 30 mph over the speed limit, there is almost no way your car insurance premium is not headed up – in most cases, significantly.
Your premium increase will vary depending on several factors, including your insurance company, your past driving record, and just how fast you were going when you joined the Super Speeder club.
CarInsurance.com rate data from 2022 shows how much speeding tickets in Georgia will increase your annual car insurance rate, on average:
- Speeding 11 to 29 mph over the limit: 36% increase or $613 annually.
- Speeding 30+ mph over the limit: 51% increase or $873 annually.
If you’re convicted under the Super Speeder law, your rates won’t return to normal soon. While it can vary by the insurance company, in most cases, a speeding violation will stay on your policy for between 3-5 years.
Even if you are passing through the Peach State, odds are your insurer will find out: Most states share information, so you should assume that your Super Speeder ticket information will get back to your state’s DMV, and your insurer will raise your rates.
What can I do if I’m ticketed as a Super Speeder?
No matter what, your move into Super Speeder territory will be expensive. You can suck it up, pay the fines and increased insurance premiums, or hire a lawyer. If your attorney can negotiate the ticket down, the long-term effect may not hit as hard.
“If you simply pay your fines, it will be on your driving record and your insurance company will see it. Your premiums could then increase significantly, which in time will most likely add up to more than the fees an attorney would charge to represent you,” says Scott Fortas, an attorney and partner with Hawkins Spizman Fortas law group in Atlanta.
In addition to saving money on your insurance, a clean driving record is often worth the cost of legal representation.
“A traffic lawyer can, in most cases, help you get the charge reduced to a lesser violation with fewer or no points, and to many drivers, it’s well worth the lawyer’s fee to keep their driving record as clean as possible,” Fortas says.
A good attorney may be able to make the Super Speeder issues go away completely. If your lawyer can negotiate the speed on the ticket below the super speeder thresholds, you may be able to avoid the Super Speeder fine altogether.
You might also be interested inResources & Methodology
Source
Georgia Department of Driver Services. “Points Schedule.” Accessed October 2022.
Methodology
CarInsurance.com commissioned Quadrant Information Services to pull rates in 2022 for a 40-year-old male driver of a 2021 Honda Accord LX with good credit and full coverage and a $500 deductible; the increases shown are an average from the base rate in 2022. Rates were fielded from up to six major insurers in 10 ZIP codes to arrive at an average.
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