Reader’s Question:

My son visited his girlfriend in Massachusetts last week. Unfortunately, on his way to his girlfriend’s house, he stopped to buy something in a grocery store and parked his car near a fire hydrant. He received a citation for parking near a far hydrant. What would happen if he chose not to pay the ticket? Will this affect his driving record and car insurance rate in Bryan, TX? The violation happened in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Lulu

Bryan, TX

The Non-Resident Violator Compact (NRVC) requires its member states to suspend the driver’s license of a person who committed an out-of-state moving violation and failed to pay the fine. Both the states of Massachusetts and Texas are members of this.

The fine for parking within 10-feet from the fire hydrant in Lowell, Massachusetts is $50. However, if no payment is maid after 21 days of said violation, there would be an additional fine of $5. And if no payment is paid for the basic fine of $50 and additional fine of $5, there would an additional fine of $5 again, on top of the mentioned two fines.

There are certain types of violation being reported to a person’s home state and this normally does not include a non-moving violation like this. However, if let’s say the state of Massachusetts sent a non-compliance notice to your home state, it will still depend though to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) if they will choose to suspend your son’s license because of non-payment of fine.

I would never suggest that your son opt not pay the fine because once his license is suspended it would aversely hurt his driving record thus increasing his auto insurance rate in the future. One of the best ways to keeping auto insurance rate affordable is to follow the law wherever you are, at all times. You can also ask his auto insurance agent in Bryan, TX to make sure how this will affect his auto insurance premium.

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