It’s one of life’s great mysteries: How much is that traffic ticket going to cost?

Not the fine itself, but the almost inevitable bump in your insurance rate that will follow.

Call your insurance company with a “what if” scenario, and they’ll probably tell you that they won’t know until it actually happens. 

It’s no surprise that drunk driving as the worst impact, causing a 79 percent increase, but reckless driving and street racing weren’t far behind at 73 percent and 71 percent. 

Things drop off quickly after that, with a 30 mph over speeding ticket netting just a 30 percent increase.

Interestingly, getting caught driving without insurance only increases premiums by 10 percent, while failing to use a seatbelt barely moves the needle, just 3 percent.

The range can vary dramatically, however. For example: The lowest rate for a driver with a 16-29 mph over speeding ticket on their record would pay $1,449 at Geico and $2,239 at Allstate, so it pays to shop around.

Below is an expected percentage increase due to an infraction:

DUI/DWI first offense 79%

Reckless driving 73%

Operating a vehicle in a race (highway racing) 71%

Speeding 30+ over limit 30%

Careless driving 26%

Texting-while-driving 23%

Distracted driving 22%

Speeding 16-29 MPH over limit 22%

Improper/illegal pass 20%

Speeding 1-15 MPH over limit 20%

Following too closely 20%

Improper turn 20%

Failure to yield 20%

Failure to stop 19%

Talking on cell phone 16%

Driving without a license or permit 12%

Driving without insurance 10%

Seat belt infraction 3%