There’s something about speed. It’s fascinating as a driver to feel in control of a powerful lump of machinery as it hurtles across the landscape. The tire noise rises. If you have one of these sporty vehicles with a modified muffler to let you hear the power of the engine, you press a little harder with your right foot. Cars today are manufactured with safety in mind. It used to be dangerous to do more than eighty mph. The brakes were poor, the suspension was worse. Go round a bend too fast and a rollover was common. Today, even a family saloon can do eighty mph and not feel under strain. That leaves many with a curiosity bump. What’s it like to be doing one-hundred or more? Well it turns out an increasing number of drivers want to find out. Not that it’s in any way typical but the Texas Highway Patrol reports writing up 3,726 for speeding where the vehicle was traveling at more than one-hundred mph. Obviously Texan drivers think they live in a big country and stand a good chance of avoiding detection.

So how do the law enforcers react and what happens to your insurance? For these purposes, let’s assume you are caught doing more than forty mph than the limit allows and/or traveling more than one-hundred mph. The majority of states automatically treat anyone doing more than one-hundred mph as reckless. This brings you into the fine fine zone where your wallet is going to be hit for more than $1,000 in penalties and administrative charges. Obviously, there are no fixed rules about the scale of the fine. It will go up if you ignore school and construction zones. Similarly, the higher your speed in the relation to the speed limit, the higher the fine. Some states have a super-speeder tariff. But the real crunch comes if you’re charged with a misdemeanor or a reckless driving citation. In most states this features an automatic suspension of your license and points on your record. Acquire too many points and your license disappears for a year and more. This assumes the courts don’t decide to throw you in jail. This will be a certainty if you’ve been drinking or have drugs in your body. Otherwise you’d better hope the judge is in a good mood.

The insurer will react depending on the offense. A single speeding ticket with only few mph above the limit may not provoke any reaction. This can happen to anyone. But if you pick up a misdemeanor conviction and jail time, some insurers will cancel your cover. It all depends on how the insurer assesses risk. If this forms part of a pattern, you can expect the car insurance rates to go up dramatically, particularly for younger male drivers. Should you be labeled a high-risk driver and your policy is canceled, finding a conventional insurer to pick up your cover is going to be a challenge. You will be forced into the arms of the specialist companies or your state’s high-risk exchange to find cover. So, before you add extra weight to your right foot, think carefully about the impact on the next set of car insurance quotes.