Which Cars Get the Most Traffic Tickets?

An anonymous reader writes: Have you ever been pulled over for a traffic stop and wondered if your sporty car was what caught the officer's attention? Ever had an officer pass up your clunker to snag a flashier vehicle? Well, there's now some data showing which vehicles accumulate the most tickets. According to a study by Insurance.com, drivers of the Subaru WRX, Pontiac GTO, and Scion FR-S get a higher percentage of tickets than drivers of any other cars. At the bottom of the list, we see vehicles such as the Ford Ecosport, the Land Rover LR4, and Chevy Sportvan. They have a widget that will let you see data on your own make/model, if you're curious.

Comments

Re:Study is quite incomplete

[Skater]

I lost faith when I saw this entry:

Mercury Topaz – 28.8%

A small family sedan that hasn't been made since 1994 still hits #7 in getting the most tickets? It's the Mercury version of the Ford Tempo, which didn't make the top 20 at all. And I'd be willing to bet Ford sold a lot more Tempos than they did Topazs...

Re:Moire expensive car, richer driver, that's FINE

[James-NSC]

Actually, it's quite the opposite, right up to the economic collapse I owned my own business (infosec consultancy for government agencies & T1 infrastructure) and had picked up a Seven Series BMW (which, for their high end +$80K car loses it's value quickly so it becomes affordable to most of us just a few years later) and I found, while driving that "luxury sedan" my LEO experiences were 180 from what they are now, post economic collapse in a beat up ol 95 civic.

• - I never got any "superfluous" tickets (no proof of any documentation, insurance/registration) as, on both occasions, the officer said something along the lines of "people who own these types of cars always have it, no need to prove it sir
• - I was always called "sir" and treated with the utmost respect without exception - even when one officer found a mandible on my console which caused her to step back, put her hand on her service weapon and ask me "what is that?!" it had fallen off as it usually sits on my rear-view mirror as a talisman (ala Roland Deschain)
• - I was found passed out drunk behind the wheel, motor running and wasn't given a ticket but instead the officer called my friend, woke him up and had him come get me (that was a double down of cool cop and that he was only there because some worry wort thought I was a stalker, but instead had left a friends party when it was over & was too drunk to drive so I fell asleep in my car) - but still, in a civic, I'm sure i'd be booked for a DUI for being in the drivers seat w/ the engine running
• - I even crashed it once when I inadvertently turned off the traction control earlier in the day, no ticket, the cop just commiserated with me about what a shame it was to have smashed up such a nice car and that he wasn't "going to add any more to my already bad day"

Conversely, I was driving a VW Rabbit (old) with expired out of state plates, but still within the month they expired (both states - source & destination - allow you to drive the car in the month it expires) and I was pulled out of the car, by two officers *at gun point* (later, according to them, no one had reported anything, but the fact that I was in an old car, with expired plates was very suspicious) they even shouted asking if I had any tattoos, and I said "yes, on my leg" and they replied
"show us"
"I can't do that without dropping my pants officer!"
"drop 'em"
and there I was, pants around my ankles in the parking lot of a 7-11 late at night with two small town cops pointing their guns at me. I *know* they wouldn't have done that had I been driving a BMW 745i - drastically different experiences, all based on the make/model of the car.