A speeding ticket can raise your insurance rates by an average of 23% in South Carolina. Shopping for new rates should be your first step after paying your fine.

Written by Kornelia Drianovski

Edited by R.E. Fulton

Updated on Jan 31, 2024

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2 steps to deal with a speeding ticket in South Carolina
Calculate your South Carolina speeding ticket penalties
Your insurance will go up after a speeding ticket—here’s how to lower it
When are insurance companies notified of speeding tickets?
The best car insurance companies after a speeding ticket in South Carolina
FAQs

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A speeding ticket in the state of

South Carolina

carries fines between $15 and $200, along with two to six demerit points on your

South Carolina driving record

. You can pay the fine and take on a potential 23%

car insurance

rate increase, or you can dispute it in traffic court.

2 steps to deal with a speeding ticket in South Carolina

Step 1: Decide whether to pay or fight the traffic ticket. If you prepay your ticket, you’re essentially entering a guilty plea to a moving violation and the corresponding number of points will be deducted from your South Carolina driving record.

Almost every court in South Carolina can handle traffic tickets, but it is mostly handled by magistrate and municipal courts. Your ticket will indicate the court that is handling your case, but you can consult the South Carolina Judicial Department for information on contacting each court.

Note: It should be noted that signing your ticket does not mean you are pleading guilty. You still get to decide whether to fight the ticket or just pay the fine.

Step 2: Shop for car insurance before your next renewal. Your auto insurance company will only find out about your speeding ticket when your policy is up for renewal—but your rates will go up by an average of 23% when your policy renews.

Learn more:

The best way to shop for car insurance in 2023

How to pay your South Carolina traffic ticket

Unless your ticket requires a court appearance, pleading guilty or no contest is the fastest way of dealing with your speeding ticket. However, that means paying your fine and receiving a conviction and demerit points on your driving record.

You can pay your ticket fine at any time before the listed due date, and some payment options available are:

Online payment:

Paying online

is the easiest option. Have your ticket number, issuance date, driver’s license number, name, and date of birth ready.

By mail: Many counties will permit you to mail a check at their official address, but you’ll have to find that information on their individual websites.

In person: If you prefer paying your traffic ticket in person, you can usually go to your local county clerk’s office.

Keep in mind: Once the South Carolina courts have received your payment, your case will be closed. You will also have a misdemeanor citation and you will accumulate points (assigned based on your speed) on your record.

How to get a speeding ticket dismissed

If you feel you received your speeding ticket by mistake, you can decide to appear on your court date to dispute the ticket.

To enter a not guilty plea, you must appear in court on the date of your hearing. The date can be found on your traffic ticket.

The most effective arguments for getting a speeding ticket dismissed include:

Defective radar or officer error: If you can prove that your ticket was issued due to malfunctioning traffic cameras or improper use of a radar by police officers, it could be dismissed.

Defective speedometer: If you didn’t know that you were speeding because your vehicle’s speedometer was broken, you may be able to get your ticket dismissed.

Medical emergencies: If you were speeding due to a medical emergency, the court may grant you a dismissal.

Keep in mind: Your speeding ticket is more likely to get dismissed if you’ve maintained a clean driving record with no previous traffic violations.

Not knowing South Carolina traffic laws is not a good speeding ticket defense. Whether you’re an out-of-state or first-time South Carolina driver, don’t try to fight your ticket by claiming ignorance.

Learn more:

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

Calculate your South Carolina speeding ticket penalties

When you get a speeding ticket in South Carolina, you’ll face two main types of penalties:

Fines & fees: South Carolina will fine you anywhere between $15 and $400 for driving over the speed limit, with fines reaching the high end of the range if you exceed the speed limit in a school zone or construction zone.

Demerit points: Depending on how much over the speed limit you were going, you’ll have two to six points deducted from your driving record. These demerits stay on your record for two years.

If your speeding ticket is actually a reckless driving charge or misdemeanor, you could face jail time on top of costly fines. Finally, if you accumulate more than 12 demerit points, you could get your license suspended.1

The South Carolina speeding ticket fines and points system

Under South Carolina law, the base fee for a speeding ticket starts at $15 to $80 for driving 1 to 10 mph above the posted speed limit. This is only the minimum fine, so it can increase based on other factors such as the speed you were driving or if you have a previous conviction.

You may also be subject to additional fees, court fees, and administrative fees. If you were driving under the influence, a DUI surcharge will be added to your total fine. These fees are calculated based on the speed listed on your ticket.

Taking all of this into account, the table below shows how much you could be fined in South Carolina for different speeding tickets.23

Ticket	1st offense	Demerit points
1 - 10 mph over speed limit	$15-80	2
10 - 15 mph over speed limit	$20-$120	4
15 - 25 mph over speed limit	$50-$180	4
25+ mph over speed limit	Up to $400 or 30 days in jail	6

Remember: The fines and penalties become more severe for second and subsequent convictions. Depending on the situation, there is also a possibility of license suspension or revocation.

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

Speeding tickets carry long-term costs beyond your initial fines and processing fees. Car insurance is the most important: in South Carolina, drivers see their auto insurance premiums go up by an average of 23% after a single speeding ticket.

Once you’ve paid your fine, it’s time to take action to keep your insurance rates affordable. Here’s how.

1. Check your renewal date and comparison shop

Your car insurance premium won’t increase until your policy renewal, so the first thing you should do is check your policy details for your next renewal date. If it’s months away, that’s good news: you’ll keep paying your current rate for the time being!

When you receive a renewal notice from your insurance company, take note of your renewal rate. It should include a surcharge for your speeding ticket, which your insurer will have noted from your most recent

motor vehicle report (MVR)

With your renewal rate in hand, compare car insurance quotes from other providers to see if any of them offer a lower rate for drivers with speeding tickets.

To do this quickly, you can use the

Jerry

app and review personalized offers from multiple insurers at once.

Don’t forget to reshop often once you have the best rate. As your South Carolina driving record changes following a speeding ticket, you should gradually become eligible for lower rates.

If you purchase car insurance through the Jerry app, you’ll be able to keep up to date with those rate decreases by turning on automatic reshops—so your insurance premium always reflects the best version of your driving record.

2. Take a driver improvement course

Depending on the severity of your speeding violation, you may be allowed to complete a

defensive driving course

in exchange for ticket dismissal. Drivers who complete an approved driving school course may also be eligible for point reduction.

If the ticket is dismissed, you will not have any misdemeanor citations or points on your record. However, the judge will be informing you of your options and requirements.

3. Take advantage of discounts

In addition to adding surcharges to your policy, a speeding ticket can break your clean driving streak and remove any good driver discounts you may have had on your policy. But there are other

car insurance discounts

that could help you save, including:

Telematics discounts (i.e. tracking your driving)

Good student discounts

Paid-in-full discounts

Responsible payer discounts

Low-mileage discounts

When are insurance companies notified of speeding tickets?

Your insurance company won’t learn about your speeding ticket until your policy is up for renewal. That’s when insurers review your motor vehicle report for any new traffic infractions.

If your renewal date is a week away, expect your rate to increase then; if it’s in six months, you can keep paying your current rate until after your policy renews.

The best car insurance companies after a speeding ticket in South Carolina

Here’s how major insurance companies tend to handle rate renewals after a speeding ticket:

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%

Remember: Every auto insurance provider deals with traffic offenses differently. Depending on your existing driving record, the number of years you’ve been with your insurer, and whether or not you plead guilty to your speeding ticket, your insurance premium could go up by less—or more—than this table shows.

Where'd we get these numbers?
Jerry’s editorial team researched the average rate increase after a speeding ticket for these 10 insurance companies using expert sources from Forbes, NerdWallet, ValuePenguin, WalletHub, Liberty Mutual, The Zebra, and CarInsurance.com. Our data shows the average of the data shared by these sources.

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FAQs

What happens when you get a speeding ticket in South Carolina?

If you’ve been issued a speeding ticket in South Carolina, you have three different options to deal with the ticket: You can plead guilty, no contest, or nolo contendere and pay your fine; you can take an approved driving education course; or, you can appear in court to plead not guilty.

How much is a 15 mph over speeding ticket in South Carolina?

Fines will vary by county and municipality, but you can expect to pay anywhere from $20 to $120 for a 15 mph over speeding ticket.

What if you can’t afford to pay your speeding ticket?

Unfortunately, if you can’t afford to pay your speeding ticket, your driver’s license could get suspended. There are currently no payment plans in place for drivers to fulfill the payments in installments.

Will I lose my license if I don’t fight a speeding ticket?

It’s possible to lose your license for speeding in South Carolina, depending on how many offenses you commit.

South Carolina operates on a point system and your license will get suspended for three to six months if you accumulate 12 or more demerit points.

Should I fight or pay my speeding ticket?

If you have strong evidence that you weren’t speeding, it could be worth fighting your ticket so that your driving record and insurance premiums won’t be affected. However, if you don’t have any proof to back up your claim, you may want to pay off the fines or agree on a plea bargain during your pre-trial.

SOURCES

https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t56c001.php

https://charlestonlaw.net/south-carolina-driving-points-system/