Kurt Verlin
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Cars That Get the Most Speeding Tickets

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Does the data reveal something about police officers?

2022 Hyundai Veloster N
2022 Hyundai Veloster N at the track, where is where you should be doing your speeding.
Photo: Hyundai

Most people have heard that certain car colors, such as red, can raise insurance premiums because they are more eye-catching and associated with speed. But how does the car model you drive affect the likelihood of getting pulled over and handed a speeding ticket?


Related: Hyundai Veloster N named ‘Most Fun Car to Drive’

Based on 2021 data gathered by Insurify, the following are the top 10 car models with the highest share of drivers who have prior speeding violations on record.

  1. Subaru WRX, 18.80 percent
  2. Hyundai Genesis Coupe, 17.72 percent
  3. Kia Stinger, 16.58 percent
  4. Mazda3, 16.36 percent (guilty as charged)
  5. Subaru BRZ, 16.21 percent
  6. Scion FR-S, 16.01 percent
  7. GMC Sierra 1500, 15.31 percent
  8. Volkswagen Golf GTI, 14.95 percent
  9. Subaru Impreza, 14.81 percent
  10. Hyundai Veloster, 14.65 percent

One thing to keep in mind is that this is not a ranking of how likely it is that drivers of certain cars break the speed limit. There’s no doubt a correlation between speeding and speeding tickets, but given the suspicious lack of American muscle cars (or American brands in general, save for the GMC), it’s probable that police officer bias is also present. After all, they tend to be the ones driving those cars.

A common trait most of these vehicles share is affordability and sportiness. Five of the cars on the list are sports cars and every single model on the list has a retail price lower than the national average. This once again makes the lack of Mustangs, Camaros, Chargers, and Challengers look odd given that all of them start in the same $25,000-$33,000 range as many of the vehicles above.

That said, another common trait shared by the top 10 models is the age of their drivers. According to Subaru’s own data, WRX buyers have one of the lowest median age on the market along with the BRZ, Honda Civic Si, and Hyundai Veloster N. These are commonly viewed as “boy racer” cars, which could explain why they’re featured on the list, as young drivers are more likely to drive recklessly. American muscle car buyers tend to skew older than buyers of imported sports cars.

It’s odd that the Civic is missing, but it’s unclear whether Insurify’s methodology differentiates between Civic models, making it possible that the car’s general popularity pushed its speeding percentages down. I’m also not sure about the age of the data itself, as the Scion FR-S has been discontinued since 2015 (it is now the Toyota 86) and Genesis has broken off into its own brand.

All of that said, the list of cars that get the most speeding tickets does validate some stereotypes. All that remains to be seen is if in addition to speeding, WRX owners also vape more than most.