What You Drive Defines Your Driving Style (Sometimes To the Detriment of Others)

[DainBramaged]

Quality Planning, the ISO company that validates policyholder information for auto insurers, has released proprietary findings that confirm a strong correlation between what people drive and how they drive. The findings show that drivers of high-performance vehicles are by no means in the lead when it comes to counting the Top 10 most-ticketed vehicles. Topping the list with the most violations was the Hummer H2/H3, with 4.63 times the number of violations compared to the overall average. At the other end of the spectrum is the old standby — the pick-up truck.

Speculating why certain vehicles (and their drivers) are ticketed more or less frequently is a subject of great debate. The driver behind the wheel of one vehicle may be eager to express his individuality, while another views his vehicle as nothing more than a way to get from A to B. Mark S. Foster, author of A Nation on Wheels: The Automobile Culture in America Since 1945, offered his assessment on the statistics: “Hummer drivers feel like kings of the road because of their elevated driving position. As these statistics show, they are leading the pack when it comes to violating the law, which may reflect their driving attitude.”

“The sense of power that Hummer drivers derive from their vehicle may be directly correlated with the number of violations they incur,” said Dr. Raj Bhat, president of Quality Planning. “Or perhaps Hummer drivers, by virtue of their driving position, are less likely to notice road hazards, signs, pedestrians, and other drivers.”

Another surprise that emerged from the statistics: three different Scion models made the Top 10 list of vehicles with the highest percentage of violations. According to Toyota, the Scion tC’s average customer is under 25 years old, and the Scion demographic skews to early 30s. Youth typically does correlate with a higher incidence of violations, and Toyota’s popularity with youthful drivers may partially explain this new-found notoriety. Not so surprising is that two of the most powerful cars on the road, both sold by Mercedes, also appear in the Top 10

Table 1 — vehicles with highest percentage of violations Make Model Body Style Violations*
Hummer H2/H3 SUV 463%
Scion tC Coupe 460%
Scion XB Station Wagon 403%
Mercedes Benz CLK63 AMG Coupe 397%
Toyota Solara Coupe 306%
Mercedes Benz CLS63 AMG Coupe 276%
Scion XA Hatchback 275%
Subaru Outback Station Wagon 266%
Audi A4 Sedan 264%
Toyota Matrix Hatchback 264%
* Violations/100,000 miles driven, expressed as percentage of average.

http://www.qualityplanning.com/

Wow, 5 Toyotas, 1 Subaru. God ToyHonNis doesn't do a good job of protecting against tickets.


Table 2 — vehicles with lowest percentage of violations Make Model Body Style Violations*
Jaguar XJ Sedan 11%
Chevrolet Suburban SUV 16%
Chevrolet Tahoe SUV 21%
Chevrolet C/K- 3500/2500 Pickup 28%
Buick Park Avenue Sedan 32%
Mazda 6 Sedan 34%
Buick Rainier SUV 37%
Oldsmobile Silhouette Minivan 37%
Buick Lucerne Sedan 40%
GMC Sierra C1500 Pickup 40%

[hedgehog]

1. Is there any way to take into account unconscious bias on the

part of the police? I imagine a big ass Hummer is going to garner more attention than my tidy but boring 10 year old used car.

I've spent a lot of time driving small cars. I can always tell when the price of gas jumps sharply because all of a sudden I start getting cut off by drivers of gas hogs!

[rpannier]

13. That might explain the hummers

But Toyota 5 in the top 10.

Toyotas are hardly a car you stop to take a 2nd look at and go 'Wow!'

On edit:
A Station Wagon???

[vadawg]

20. Probuably theres more toyotas on the road in areas

that are heavily policed, i dont know what my stats would be, never thought about it.

[flvegan]

2. The Jag is the lowest because it's tough to get a ticket when you're on a tow truck.

[krispos42]

5. *snort*

LOL






Obstructing traffic, maybe?


:rofl:

[DainBramaged]

15. Good one!!!!!

:fistbump:

[OffWithTheirHeads]

17. And there are no Ferrari's on the list because Ferrari is

an Italian word. It means "in the shop".

[MindPilot]

27. Lucas Electric: "Be Home Before Dark."

[NightWatcher]

3. Buick, Olds, Jaguar= old people doing 35 in a 45 zone

[doc03]

11. That was what I thought when I saw the list,

nothing against old people. I guess I would be considered old but the cars on the top list are more my taste in vehicles though.

[krispos42]

4. Shit.

Mine's #8

Impreza Outback Sport, wagon.


Although I've been driving at 60mph to save gas.

:wtf:

[intheozone]

9. Yea, I laughed at that one. We have an Outback wagon, V6 and we drive from

Sacramento to Boulder CO on occasion. We have cruised across the salt flats at 105mph. That little wagon flys!!

[EOTE]

28. Ahem... boxer 6, Subaru only makes boxer engines.

And yes, Subaru's flat-6s are quite a hoot to drive.

[Radical Activist]

6. Cops don't pull over pickup trucks.

First of all, the average pickup driver is less likely to be driving in town where there are more cops.

I drove a red sporty sedan once and my next vehicle was an old pickup. I got pulled over CONSTANTLY in the red car. Cops love teenage boys in red cars far more than teenage girls do.
I got pulled over once in the two years that I drove the pickup even though I consistently drove faster in it. I sped in that truck all the time because I knew I could get away with it.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. So if you buy any of the cars on the list, you'll pay higher insurance.

Even if you are a a senior citizen type who wants to drive a Subaru Outback Station Wagon .

[cobalt1999]

8. I wonder where Harley riders rank?

We tend to be careful.

[doc03]

12. Harley drivers are most likely to become

organ donors.

[cobalt1999]

19. That's what makes us so damn careful!

Every minute is an adventure.

[Dr.Phool]

36. Especially at this time of year, in Florida.

Gotta watch out for the Snowturds.

[NNN0LHI]

10. I suspect some of the ticket writers have some laid off or retired UAW members in their family

They may be writing more tickets for people driving Japanese made cars more often without even realizing it?

Or the people who drive them may just be dickheads more often than not which tends to earn them more tickets? Similar to your average Walmart shopper.

Don

[tigereye]

14. surprised to see Subaru Outback on there...

then again, there are a lot of folks who own them.

[Xithras]

29. There are also two different Outback lines, and this doesn't say which.

There's the Legacy Outback, which is a fairly sedate station wagon based on the Subaru Legacy. These are the cars most people associate with the "Outback" name.

Then there's the Outback Sport, or Impreza Outback. The Subaru Impreza is a sports car that can compete with some of the best production performance cars in the world and is extremely popular with everyone from rally drivers to illegal street racers. The Impreza Outback, or Outback Sport, is a fastback version of this car that gives it more cargo room but maintains the same high performance gear.

Most Outbacks in America fall into the first group, but I'd bet those tickets come from owners of the second.

Me? I drive a Forester. Also an Impreza underneath, but with the added weight the performance went out the window. It'll cruise at 110MPH all day long without complaint though.

[4lbs]

16. Well, of the Mercedes and Audi, I often saw drivers of those cars yapping merrily

away on their cell phones while driving one handed. Therefore, it's understandable that they wouldn't be paying attention and blow through STOP signs and red lights, change lanes or turn without signaling, etc.

This was before the current law banning such behavior (using a cell phone while driving) of course.

[drmeow]

18. Number of tickets is not

a barometer of how people drive unless they are strictly speed camera tickets - all other tickets include a definite potential for police bias. A better criteria would be number found at fault in accidents.

[Waiting For Everyman]

21. As usual, they are full of it.

You can drive a kiddie car on the New Jersey Turnpike, and get a ticket every day. It isn't what you drive, it's where you drive... regardless of what kind of driver you are.

[DainBramaged]

25. 32 years of driving junks, muscle cars, hot rods, and SUV's

and not ONE moving violation or accident. And driving some of the hottest cars (smokinnn) GM makes and I am still violation free.

[PM7nj]

33. Only if you're from out of state, of course.

New Jerseyans generally drive 75-90mph on the Turnpike because they know the cops only care about out of state speeders. I've never seen anyone with NJ plates pulled over on the Turnpike.

[BlooInBloo]

22. "defines" != "correlates with".

[CRF450]

23. Wonder where my car and truck rank...

I'm sure my Trans Am would be up their in the high percentage, even though I'v had it for a good while without getting a ticket. The red v6 Camaro I was pulled over twice for understandable reasons except for third BS time which was the tint on my side windows that werent even that dark:mad:

[DainBramaged]

24. I'll try for the full report, I gots me connections

:evilgrin:

[MindPilot]

26. Looks to me more like a study on police bias...

"Youth typically does correlate with a higher incidence of violations". Huh? Ok, maybe not, but it certainly correlates with more attention from the police.

Anyone who was ever a young male at any time in their life knows that to be true.

[CRF450]

30. If they didn't drive like fools than they wouldn't get the attention.

Thats a fact and I witness it all the time.

[mentalsolstice]

31. I drive a MINI, so I just hide behind the big-assed SUVs. nt

[JuniperLea]

32. I used to drive my granddad's HOT Malibu

And I got tickets left and right...

Something tells me there are a lot more variables than this study would lead one to believe. Who paid for this rubbish anyway?

[PVnRT]

34. omgz teh unAmericanz!!1!!1

[NutmegYankee]

35. I guess life is an ideal gas... n/t

[aikoaiko]

37. The Scions (esp the Xb) really surprises me.

I drive an Xb.