For journalists · rules verified August 2, 2026
Press and data
NC Ticket Cost computes what a specific North Carolina traffic ticket costs a specific driver: the fine, the court costs, and the statutory insurance surcharge over the correct three- or five-year window. It is free, it asks nothing before showing the number, and every figure cites the statute or circular it comes from.
The one-sentence version
In North Carolina the increase after a ticket is a published statutory schedule, not a carrier average — so a specific conviction has a specific, citable dollar figure.
The Safe Driver Incentive Plan sets a percentage by SDIP point total — from +40% at one point to +340% at twelve — applied to the base premium of the highest-rated vehicle on the policy. National publishers report averaged quotes, which describe a market rather than the law. This tool applies the schedule. NCRB A-25-4
How a number is produced
Every value lives in one versioned rules file in the codebase; the calculator is a pure function over it, with no averages, no models and no estimates of judicial behaviour. The formula is published in plain text:
True cost = fine + court costs + (SDIP factor × base premium × window years)
The engine ships with hand-computed test cases that must match to the dollar before the site builds. 40 charges have their own reference page. Full derivations, the quoted statutory text, the rows we have not yet been able to verify, and what we explicitly do not claim are all on the methodology page.
Primary sources
| Number | Authority | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Fines and infraction points | N.C. General Statutes, Chapter 20 | G.S. 20-141 (speeding), G.S. 20-16 (DMV points), G.S. 20-16.1 (speeding suspension) |
| Court costs | N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts | G.S. 7A-304 cost components, schedule effective 1/1/2025 |
| Insurance surcharge percentages | North Carolina Rate Bureau — Safe Driver Incentive Plan | NCRB Circular A-25-4, SDIP Rule 5; NCDOI published SDIP schedule |
| Rating windows (3-year and 5-year) | North Carolina Rate Bureau | NCRB Circular A-25-4, effective 2025-07-01 |
| Inexperienced-operator (new driver) factors | NCRB Personal Auto Manual | Rule 4.F; NCRB Circular A-25-5 extended the period to 8 years |
| Prayer for Judgment Continued | N.C. General Statutes and NCRB SDIP rules | G.S. 20-16(c) DMV treatment; SDIP Rule 5 household limit |
We cite primary documents only — statutes, the AOC cost schedule, and NCRB circulars and manual rules. No carrier data, no aggregator averages, no survey figures.
Download the data
Each file carries its own source line and the verified date, so a table stays attributed after it leaves this site. Reuse is free; a link back to ncticketcost.com is appreciated.
SDIP surcharge schedule
One statutory percentage per SDIP point total, with our source status for each row.
Download CSVFines, DMV points and SDIP points by charge
All 40 charges in the register, with the fine, both point counts and PJC eligibility.
Download CSVCourt costs on an infraction
Every AOC component that sums to the infraction total, each with its statute.
Download CSVStatutory schedule compared with national average publishers
How this site's method differs from publishers of averaged carrier quotes.
Download CSVThe complete rules file
Every fine, point count, cost component, surcharge factor and window rule the calculator uses, as one JSON document — the same file the site runs on.
Download JSON
About the publisher and what we are not
NC Ticket Cost is an independent North Carolina consumer data project. It is not a law firm and not an insurance agency: it does not sell insurance, does not refer drivers to attorneys, does not name carriers or firms, and takes no commission on anything. Results are educational estimates, not legal advice.
We publish every correction we make on the corrections page. If a figure here is wrong, that is where the fix and its date will appear.
We are not yet listing a press contact address. Until one is published here, corrections and questions are best raised through the corrections page.
The calculator is the whole tool — the number appears with no email and no gate.
Rules verified