Do Red Sports Cars Get More Speeding Tickets Than White Mini Vans?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
District of Columbia, District of Columbia, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) November 8, 2010 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Roaring down the interstate highway, a red sports car and white minivan are both exceeding the posted speed limit. Which car is more likely to get a speeding ticket? The answer may surprise you.

If drivers could figure out why they were singled out of the flow of traffic to get a speeding ticket, they would have a lot less aggravation in their lives. The Office of Traffic Safety.Org will be conducting a study to identify which cars, colors, and type of drivers are most likely to be cited. The stereotypes about age and car type will be put to the test during a year long study being performed in three states beginning January 1, 2011. The OTS will study citations issued in New York, California and Texas and compose a profile of ticketed drivers and car types versus the percentage of drivers in that demographic.

The average car will statistically receive 0.2 moving violations per 100,000 miles driven, but which cars are pulled over depends a lot on the perception of the police officer. Initial studies suggest that some vehicles have a higher-than-average violation rate and higher insurance losses. The data also indicates that men, ages fifty to sixty five are more likely to receive tickets than their younger counterpart in the 18 to 25 demographic. Is this because men are more likely to speed as they become older, or are they singled out of the pack because of their flashy sports car purchased during their midlife crisis, while their 22 year old counterpart is driving a ten year old Ford with a rusty tailpipe and the bumper held on with chicken wire.

Initial data is fascinating. The least ticketed model of car is the Buick Rainier SUV, which has since been discontinued, but whose average driver is 61 years old. The most ticketed car, whose drivers are presented with four times as many speeding tickets as the average driver, is the Mercedes SL. This roadster has a sticker price over one hundred thousand dollars and apparently, its owners want to get the most from its V-8 engine.

Curiously, the second most ticketed car is the Toyota Solara and Matrix, not known for its raging speed or impressive good looks. Younger drivers are ticketed most often behind the wheel of a Scion xB or Audi A4, while drivers of the Hummer H2 received two hundred percent more tickets than their friends driving similar sized Chevy Tahoes and Suburbans.

The bottom of the list is comprised of mostly pick ups and mini-vans, so maybe buying a Chevy Silverado or GMC Sierra 1500 may be the answer to your lead foot. The study will analyze citations issued in three states and compare the results against the number of licensed drivers, by sex and age, per county and the amount of highway miles in a given county to determine each vehicles violation characteristic per driver and highway mile. The study concludes on December 31, 2011 and results will be published by March 1, 2012.
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For more information about our study, please visit www.officeoftrafficsafety.org