Contact your parish court to inquire about payment methods and options to fight a Louisiana speeding ticket—then start shopping for cheaper car insurance.

Written by R.E. Fulton

Edited by Jessica Barrett

Updated on Jan 31, 2024

Jump to:

How to deal with a speeding ticket in Louisiana
How to pay your ticket
3 ways to get a Louisiana traffic ticket dismissed
What are the fines and penalties for speeding in Louisiana?
Your insurance will go up after a speeding ticket—here’s how to lower it
When are insurance companies notified about speeding tickets?
Cheapest car insurance companies after a speeding ticket in Louisiana
FAQs

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If you’ve received a speeding ticket in the state of

Louisiana

, your first step should be to contact the traffic court listed on your ticket. Fight the ticket—and the

car insurance

increase that comes with it—by requesting pretrial diversion or a driver improvement course.

How to deal with a speeding ticket in Louisiana

Step 1: Contact your parish government

In the state of Louisiana, a traffic summons won’t include information about how to pay or dismiss your ticket. The only way to determine your next step is to reach out to your parish government using the contact information on your ticket.

Step 2: Ask about the Traffic Pretrial Diversion Program

Some Louisiana parishes participate in a Traffic Pretrial Diversion (PTD) scheme, which allows drivers to convert moving violations into non-moving violations by satisfying certain requirements (such as payment of a ticket). If your parish participates, you must submit a request form 15 days before your court date.

Step 3: Look into driver improvement courses

Louisiana state law gives drivers the option to complete a driver improvement course to keep a traffic violation off their record and avoid an insurance rate hike—but you must request this from the court before the court date on your citation.

If you take the course for the DMV, you won’t be eligible for savings on your auto insurance policy. Defensive driving course savings are only available for drivers 50+ in Louisiana.

Step 4: Prepare to shop for insurance

Getting your ticket dismissed is the best possible option after a speeding ticket in Louisiana—but if you’re not eligible, you’ll need to prepare for your insurance to go up by an average of 39%. Before it does, shop for new rates to keep your insurance affordable.

Learn more:

The best way to shop for car insurance in 2023

How to pay your ticket

If you’re not eligible to have your ticket dismissed, ask your parish court for information on how to pay the ticket. Payment options will vary by parish, but you can typically pay online, by mail, in person, and sometimes by phone.

If you receive a speeding citation in one of the following Louisiana cities, follow the links below to their online payment portals:

New Orleans:

Pay Traffic Ticket - Moving Violation - City of New Orleans

Baton Rouge:

Online Ticket Payments | Baton Rouge, LA

Shreveport:

Bossier City Clerk of Court Online Ticket Payment

Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office Online Ticket Payment

Paying a Louisiana speeding ticket is an admission of guilt. If you pay the fine, your speeding ticket will appear on your driving record and your insurance will go up at the next renewal period—and stay elevated for five years or more. Review all your options for fighting a speeding ticket before you agree to pay

3 ways to get a Louisiana traffic ticket dismissed

Paying your traffic ticket helps to avoid a court appearance—but the violation will show up on your Louisiana driving record and cause your insurance premiums to rise.

It’s better to

get the ticket dismissed

, if possible. Luckily, Louisiana’s traffic laws offer three different ways for motorists to fight speeding tickets.

Request pretrial diversion

If your parish participates in a Traffic Pretrial Diversion program, you can request to have your ticket reduced from a moving violation to a non-moving violation, which typically won’t affect your auto insurance. Contact your parish court ASAP to ask about pretrial diversion.

You may not be eligible for pretrial diversion if: You received a ticket for excessive speed, you have multiple existing violations, or you were also charged with driving under the influence (DUI).

Request a driving course

Art. 892.1. of the Louisiana Revised Statutes permits drivers to enter a plea of guilty or nolo contendere (no contest) and request permission from the court to take a driver improvement course. If permission is granted and you present a certificate of completion within 90 days, the court will dismiss your ticket and your insurance company cannot legally raise your rate.

Driving course fees: You may be charged up to $10 to cover the cost of the driving course. 1

Appear in court

If you’re not eligible for pretrial diversion or a driving course but believe you can prove that you didn’t exceed the posted speed limit, you can appear in traffic court and make your case to have the charge dismissed.

If the police officer who issued the ticket does not appear, your ticket can automatically be dismissed. Otherwise, you’ll need to make an argument and offer proof of law enforcement error or other reasons your traffic citation was unfair.

Learn more:

How to get a clean driving record (and save on insurance)

What are the fines and penalties for speeding in Louisiana?

Every parish in Louisiana sets its own fine schedule for traffic citations, and your exact fine will depend in part on (1) how fast you were going and (2) where the infraction occurred (e.g. in a school zone, on a highway, or in a construction zone).

In general, base speeding ticket fines in Louisiana range from $115 to $240. However, be prepared to pay additional fees and court costs on top of your base fine. Contact your parish to learn about the exact cost of a speeding ticket in your municipality.

Because Louisiana has no driver’s license point system, you won’t receive any points against your driving record—but the violation will be added to your Louisiana driving record, and will typically remain for three years.

Penalties for speeding increase if:

You were driving under the influence: Fines for

DUI/DWI in Louisiana

range from $300 for a first offense to as much as $5,000. You may also be sentenced to jail time, forced to complete driver improvement, and/or required to install an ignition interlock device in your vehicle. 2

You were convicted of reckless operation of a motor vehicle: Reckless operation is a misdemeanor defined as driving “in a criminally negligent or reckless manner.” If it’s your first time with a reckless driving charge, you could pay an extra $200 in fines and go to jail for 90 days.3

You injured or killed someone while speeding: A first-degree negligent injuring conviction carries a fine of up to $5,000 and the possibility of five years in prison with or without hard labor. If someone died as a result of your negligent driving, the penalties are even steeper. 45

Your insurance will go up after a speeding ticket—here’s how to lower it

If you’re not able to get your Louisiana speeding ticket dismissed, the cost of the citation is only the beginning. On average, insurance rates in Louisiana go up by an average of 39%.

Average Louisiana car insurance rate increases after a speeding ticket

Average rate increase (by %)	Average annual cost of car insurance with a clean driving record	Average annual cost of car insurance after a speeding ticket	Average total rate increase (by $)
38.8%	$3,340	$4,636	$1,296

Don’t let your rate go up: Louisiana is already the most expensive state for car insurance. An increase of 39% in the average insurance premium means paying a whopping $1,296 more each year for car insurance.

1. Compare car insurance quotes

Don’t let your rate increase without a fight.

Your rate won’t go up immediately after a speeding ticket conviction—-but once that citation is on your driving record, it’s a waiting game till your insurance company finds out. When your policy is up for renewal, your insurer will review your

motor vehicle report (MVR)

and add a surcharge to your premium to account for the added risk in your driver profile.

Before that happens, take matters into your own hands by comparing new insurance quotes from at least three different car insurance companies. You can request quotes directly from providers, work with a local agent, or use a convenient digital tool like the Jerry app to quickly review quotes from multiple providers.

Shopping with Jerry comes with an added benefit for drivers with recent tickets: Jerry’s automatic reshopping tool sends you instant notifications if your insurer’s rates drop or if a new company is available in your area.

You’ll also automatically receive new quotes any time your policy is up for renewal.

Regular reshopping can help to keep your insurance affordable while you wait for a speeding ticket to age off your Louisiana driving record.

Learn more:

Car insurance renewal—are you ready for your new rate?

2. Ask your insurer about defensive driving discounts

Some Louisiana insurance companies offer a discount to drivers who complete an authorized defensive driving course. Even if you can’t get your ticket dismissed with a driver improvement program, you may be eligible for a rate reduction.

3. Take advantage of discounts

A speeding ticket can temporarily disqualify you from some good driver discounts, but there are still plenty of car insurance discounts you can use to lower your rate. Check to see if your insurer offers a discount for:

Tracking your driving with a telematics app

Paying your bill on time consistently

Paying for insurance in full

Installing anti-theft devices

Bundling home and auto insurance

When are insurance companies notified about speeding tickets?

Your insurance company won’t be notified about your speeding ticket when it happens. Instead, they’ll check your driving record when your policy is up for renewal and add a temporary adjustment to your annual or monthly premium to account for the added risk.

Cheapest car insurance companies after a speeding ticket in Louisiana

Not all insurance companies deal with a speeding ticket in the same way. The table below shows the average rate increase for a speeding ticket with some of the nation’s biggest insurance companies.

Insurance company	Average rate increase after a speeding ticket
Allstate	15%
USAA	17%
American Family	22%
Nationwide	26%
State Farm	26%
Farmers	31%
Auto-Owners	36%
Travelers	37%
GEICO	38%
Progressive	43%

Where’d we get these numbers? To find the average rate increase after a speeding ticket in every state, Jerry’s editorial team researched the average rate increase after a speeding ticket using expert sources from Forbes, NerdWallet, ValuePenguin, WalletHub, Liberty Mutual, The Zebra, and CarInsurance.com. We averaged the rate increase data from these sources and applied it to average rate data derived from thousands of real quotes drivers found through Jerry to determine average premium drivers pay after a speeding ticket in each state.

Learn more:

How is car insurance calculated?

FAQs

How much is a 20 mph over ticket in Louisiana?

Speeding ticket fines vary by parish in Louisiana, but the base fine for speeding 20 mph above the speed limit is approximately $240.

How long does a speeding ticket stay on your record in Louisiana?

Most speeding tickets stay on your Louisiana driving record for three years after the citation date. However, if you were also convicted of a more serious offense such as reckless driving or DWI, those offenses will stay on your record for five to 10 years.

How do I get out of a speeding ticket in Louisiana?

The best way to get out of a speeding ticket in Louisiana is to request pretrial diversion or a driver improvement course. If you’re not eligible for either but have evidence that you were not guilty of speeding, you can appear in court and fight the charge.

How many speeding tickets can you get in Louisiana?

The Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV) can suspend your license if you receive more than three traffic tickets in a single year, or if you fail to pay a traffic ticket. Suspended license reinstatement fees range from about $60 to $100 or more.

SOURCES

https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=112879

https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/law.aspx?d=78752

https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=78753

https://legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=78502

https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/law.aspx?d=78410