Why some cars get stopped by cops and others don't

Highway patrolmen have a lot of time to contemplate cars. And I've always wondered why they stop the car going 10 mph over the limit rather than the one that just overtook it in the outside lane at the speed of Joan Rivers' mouth.

So I am grateful to CNET's Wayne Cunningham for revealing the list of the 10 most ticketed cars and the 10 least ticketed:

Most ticketed		Rate		Least ticketed		Rate
Hummer H2/H3		463%		Jaguar XJ		11%
Scion tC		460%		Chevrolet Suburban		16%
Scion XB		403%		Chevrolet Tahoe		21%
Mercedes Benz CLK63 AMG		397%		Chevrolet C/K 3500/2500 pickup		28%
Toyota Solara Coupe		306%		Buick Park Avenue		32%
Mercedes Benz CLS63 AMG		276%		Mazda6		34%
Scion xA		275%		Buick Rainier		37%
Subaru Outback		266%		Oldsmobile Silhouette		37%
Audi A4		264%		Buick Lucerne		40%
Toyota Matrix		264%		GMC Sierra C1500 pickup		40%

*Violations per 100,000 miles driven, expressed as percentage of average.

It seems that the police love to ticket Hummers most of all. Perhaps some of you will find this understandable. Rarely has a brand attracted such wholesale disdain. Rarely have men attempted to make up in such an obvious fashion for their paunches and manboobs.

But why do police have it in for the Scion? Three different Scion models festoon the Top Ticketed Ten. They were accompanied by two types of Mercedes, the Audi A4, the Subaru Outback, the Toyota Matrix, and the Toyota Solara Coupe.

I have a theory. The Scion site describes the brand as 'United by Individuality.' Unfortunately, too many individuals have bought Scions and chosen for them to look like instruments of youthful, effeminate subversion. Naturally, in times of orange alerts and a surge toward national defense, these strange Toyotas harbored a visual threat to our secure motorized monotony.

The third most ticketed car in the United States. Surely you can see why.

(Credit: CC Monica's Dad)

My theory appears to be strengthened by the list of the least ticketed. There you will find the following nine cars: Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet C/K 3500/2500 pickup, Buick Park Avenue, Mazda6, Buick Rainier, Oldsmobile Silhouette, Buick Lucerne, GMC Sierra C1500 pickup.

This group arouses a couple of questions: 1.) Is it possible to create a list of cars any less moving, any more tranquilizing than this? 2.) What is an Oldsmobile Silhouette? And 3.) What is an Oldsmobile?

Is it therefore possible that whenever our police see one of these cars rolling down the road, they feel an emotion somewhat akin to a dulled sympathy? Is it possible that these cars arouse so little feeling that a radar gunner cannot quite believe that they are speeding or running a red light, even when they are?

My theory is only threatened by the presence of the Jaguar XJ as the least ticketed car in the United States. Why might this Jag be so resistant to the routine of flashing lights and spreading legs?

Well, perhaps there simply aren't many of them on the roads, and this number is a statistical anomaly. Perhaps a majority of Supreme Court judges drives Jaguar XJs. Perhaps these cars are so beautiful that the police just stand and stare, incapable of flagging them down and wafting the wand of justice at their drivers.

Or perhaps there are many among our police forces who simply have a fondness (or an understandable sympathy) for things British.

I had a Jag once. A pretty car. The engine (made in America, I believe) was great. But the vents (made in Britain, so they said) rattled, even after five visits to the shop. So I gave it back. But while I had it, I never got a ticket.

[BK216]

they should add Chevy Malibu to the most ticketed list....cuz i've got enough tickets driving mine

[Kev_Orng]

I think the problem is between the steering wheel and the seat!

[sting7k]

Don't hate on my Mazda6, I love that car! Pretty interesting stats though. At least now I know why I never get pulled over even though I often go by cops sitting doing radar at near 10mph over the limit. I guess my 6 is too boring for them. :(

[ChrisMatyszczyk]

sting7k,

I am full of admiration that you are proud of your Mazda6. Perhaps today you will attempt to take it to a world record speed of 82 mph down the freeway....:)

Chris

[Pishkado]

For the data to be meaningful, you have to correct for the demographics of the population that drives them and other factors like that. For example, Jaguar drivers tend to be older and perhaps drive more slowly. Hummer drivers may have a certain disdain for what everyone else thinks, and this disdain may extend to speed limits.

(I drive a BMW, but because I'm aware it can be a ticket magnet I generally keep within 10 mph of the limit. I find myself passed by a lot of Nissans. Maybe they have to prove something. I don't, or at least not by showing everyone that my car really can hit 85.)

[Walt French]

Reverse causality: people who act out aggressively are more likely to choose a Hummer in which to do it. I guess if *I* wanted to rule the road, that'd be my choice, too, but my choice of an Acura RSX as a "fun" car to drive hard is a little different. (I don't actually rack up enough miles, and I'm VERY aware of my driving environment, so I haven't been pulled over in quite some time.) But if I didn't want to hit curves hard, and accelerate rapidly, why else would I put up with the harsh suspension and lousy MPG? Likewise, why own a Hummer except that you want something to intimidate others when you want to change lanes or be the guy out front in the fast lane?

Just an alternative hypothesis that these stats don't rule out, and a likely one, I'd guess.

[msjonker]

Maybe this relates more to the types of people that buy these cars and not necessarily the sight of these cars themselves? To illustrate my point, look at all the Buicks in the least ticketed column... all old people cars... hardly driven by speed demons.

[Wak_Em]

Chris, it is really simple. The most ticketed vehicles are less expensive than the least ticketed vehicles. Given the initial cost of the vehicle, insurance, fuel and the like, the most ticketed drivers have more money remaining to pay the fines.

[ChrisMatyszczyk]

But, Wak_Em,

How do you explain the Jag? Not exactly cheap, no?

Chris

[Penguinisto]

I haven't has a speeding ticket in years, even decades... but then I've always driven Jeeps. It's not the design or style that keeps you from being ticketed - it's the fact that the things have an acceleration curve that would make a cruise ship seem rapid. ;)

(OTOH, nothing beats having one off-road...)

[neowolfwitch]

It's kinda odd that the Honda Element isn't on the top-ten list, since it was the original anti-establishment box on wheels before the Scion XB. (Actually- I'm grateful since I have one.) I do admit a certain amount of glee at Hummers being at the top of the list.

[ToddWBeaver]

This list seems lacking. How do the number of tickets compare to the number of vehicles of each type on the road?

It seems to me there aren't many Hummers out there, so they probably do deserve to be at or near the top of the list. It also stands to reason that the most popular models may also get the most tickets. How about a list ranked by number of tickets to number of vehicles on the road, instead?

[ddhboy]

So basically vehicles popular by young people, minorities, and people who spend a premium on cars are the ones who get the most fines.

[ballmerisanape]

No Mustangs.. I'm surprised.... there are a lot of us.. Guess cops appreciate American muscle.

[Brian]

Mustangs have managed to earn the respect of the road -- period.

I don't see a Mustang as a threat.

I do see a Prius as a threat -- drivers driving so slow to obtain 75 miles/gallon and causing road rage as others in their Mustangs can't pass -- when all lanes are driving behind those hybrids.

The slow-pokes are the ones who should be ticketed for majorly slowing down traffic and possibly causing accidents.

Safe driving does not mean driving 20 miles per hour on a 40 MPH road.

If those slow-pokes want to save gas, they should ride a bike and leave the roads open for the Mustangs of America!

[ejschlapp]

The Scion is very popular with younger, less experienced drivers who tend to get more tickets.

[johnsbrn1]

ejschlapp beat me to the punch. Don't you think it's far more likely that the number of tickets relates not to the type of car, but to the type of person that buys that car?

[Ramon366]

Too bad they don't target Beemers, at least in San Francisco. That car must come with an "How to be an Idiot for Idiots" manual.

[Dalkorian]

LOL - down here in southern CA we also recognize the fact that there are drivers and there are beemer drivers. We try to stay away from those types, a lesson learned from experience.

To bad too, the BMW is actually a nice car. I have no idea why their owners are such idiots.

[man_w_balls]

The most-ticketed list seems to indicate a preference for HP's to issue citations to **********. Only ********** drive Hummers and Scions. Or perhaps considering the fact that Toyota makes the Scions, and therefore 50% of the top 10 most-ticketed are Toyota-produced vehicles, then HP's have lingering anti-*** racism from WWII. ****! I have 2 yodas. One is a 240-horsepower sportscar, but I didn't get any tickets in it for the first few years I had it, despite testing the top end speed range of 120-140 mph a few times.

[man_w_balls]

wow, so I can't use the word "**********" ??? That's what was in those two sections of stars above.

[Dalkorian]

Yeah, it "bleeped" your racist comment too. I've been caught off guard by the nazi censors on occasion, try using that word that means someone has a dent in their armor (not even thinking of the racist overtones that word implies).

[ptshea]

Setting aside your observation that the police sometimes pull over a car that's being passed by another driving faster, your list seems to indicate that the cars most ticketed are generally driven my younger drivers, who, statistics show, drive faster than older drivers. And, the list of least ticketed cars are in general driven by older people, who, in general, drive more slowly. It's really quite simple.

The Jag? It's an expensive car, and so most often purchased by an older buyer -- younger buyers can't afford it.

[ptshea]

oh, and there was never a Jag with a made-in-USA engine.

[ChrisMatyszczyk]

oh, no, ptshea,

you mean the dealer lied to make me buy it? He told me it was the same engine as the Lincoln LS....

Chris

[Dalkorian]

I don't know what Chris is talking about, but don't you remember the old XJ8's from the 1980's? Basically they were XJ6's with a Chevy 350 tossed in under the hood. They were quite popular with people who liked the Jags of the day but hated oil leaks. I doubt you could ever buy one in a Jag dealership though.

[Remi Qaine]

I can understand the Outback, being on the top ten, if only because of the sheer number of them on the road especially in the area I live; of course the fact that there are 13 years worth of them on the road might help as well. Most outback owners though are not speed demons or road rulers though, so it makes you wonder a bit.

[fazalmajid]

The reason why Oldsmobiles are not ticketed is that the mere sight of them induces narcolepsy in the highway patroller...

[Ramon366]

Ha! Oldsmobile & Buick are poster-cars for WHY American auto manufacturers are in such deep doo-doo. They stripped American icons of all of the distinction that the marque had. The only way to tell the two apart is by the fake, stick-on portholes on the Buick. Sad.

[Brian]

The reason Oldsmobile is rarely found on the road is in the name: Old.

I had an Oldsmobile during my younger years -- a real lemon!

Never again!

[alegr]

Question 4) What is Buick Lucerne?

[ChrisMatyszczyk]

It's just a little more exciting than an Oldsmobile, alegr.

Chris