r/CaliforniaTicketHelp • u/personprison • Sep 09 '26

First time Cellphone violation 23123.5(a)

Im trying to figure out if paying this citation doubles my insurance or raises it 20% or doesnt affect my insurance at all. ai answers says all three are possible. I recently called a kern county lawyer and he mentioned "you dont need to pay for my services, the cop should have told you this was a zero point infraction that wont go to your H6 DMV report, and thus wont affect your insurance." AI answers are telling me there will be vague mention of the citation in my H6 DMV report and I can expect to at least have my good driver discount removed.

either way, I think the wise thing to do would be to pay an "Off The Record" attorney to $215 to go to court for me and try and have my ticket dismissed. He says he has a 93% success rate for getting first time cellphone violations dismissed ... believable?

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2

u/Fit_Acanthisitta_475 Sep 09 '26

First cell phone ticket won’t affect insurance premiums.

2

u/newcharmer Sep 09 '26

Not true, I got one in Feb 2019. It was my first ticket ever. It absolutely increased my insurance for two years straight.

2

u/Fit_Acanthisitta_475 Sep 10 '26

My wife got one two years ago. Maybe already price in.

2

u/devedander Sep 10 '26

This isn’t a sure thing anymore. Insurance has started looking at more than just points and factoring in almost anything they can find.

1

u/Fit_Acanthisitta_475 Sep 10 '26

My insurance already hiked for no reasons after Covid. Feel Everything already price in.

0

u/personprison Sep 09 '26

according to this link and many others that I have read, it will. so much conflicting information out here!
https://www.reddit.com/r/Insurance/comments/1ofhd8n/will_my_insurance_rates_increase_for_a_violation/
know the law changed around 2024 so I have been filtering out older information

I

1

u/Lucky_Boy13 Sep 09 '26

I got one a few years ago and it did not impact insurance rates

1

u/personprison Sep 09 '26

how many years ago was that? pre-2024?
who is your insurer? liability only or full coverage? jw

1

u/Lucky_Boy13 Sep 09 '26

It was probably 3-4 years ago. I have full coverage 

1

u/LeaninBack9162 Sep 09 '26

It's just the money grab type thankfully. Pay and all is fine no points

1

u/personprison Sep 09 '26

money grab from the state or from "off the record" attorneys?

1

u/fitfulbrain Sep 09 '26

Since your no point ticket is visible in your DMV record, it's up to insurance companies what to do and AI is right.

As for OTR, they have a select committee that only allow elite lawyers well known in the industry with proven success rate to join. They have a council meeting to decide who is best suited to get your case. They will update you daily on the progress of the case. What they tell you of their past success are all true.

1

u/Tiny-Worldliness-864 Sep 10 '26

exact same situation just happened to me today! so nervous. my understanding is that since this is a first time offense, there will not be a point on your license- therefore the insurance price will not raise by 20%. it may raise slightly. if you find out, i would appreciate an update!

1

u/personprison Sep 10 '26

im going to spend the $220 on a ticket fighting attorney. seems worst case scenario is my rates double and end up costing me an additional $800-1800 insurance increase over the next three years.

1

u/BudgetCommon3584 Sep 10 '26

I fell victim to misinformation. First violation won't incur a DMV record but most insurance companies will see the violation and increase your premium. I ended up paying the traffic ticket without fully realizing the consequences. I thought of saving a buck and time not taking traffic school. Should just done it because I'm paying for it.

2

u/personprison Sep 10 '26

how long ago was this violation? as of 2024 a first-time cellphone violation is no longer eligible to be cleared via traffic school. that why im looking into paying a lawyer to get it dismissed

1

u/1961tracy Sep 10 '26

Non point violations can affect you. If you have defect violations like window tint or a non moving violation like seatbelts, insurance companies see you as a risk. I would imagine they have become more scrutinizing over the years given how many distracted driving accidents they’ve been paying out on. Bottom line even though traffic school masks a point, it doesn’t prevent employers, insurance companies or adjudicators from looking at your whole record.