WASHINGTON — Move over, red sports cars. A new type of vehicle is whizzing by you on a list of the most-ticketed vehicles in the U.S.
A study from Insurance.com looked at data from 526 models and more than 557,000 recent customers to determine which vehicles receive the most speeding tickets and traffic violations. It turns out the Subaru WRX ranks at the top.
About one out of every three WRX drivers — 33.6 percent — has reported receiving a traffic citation recently.
“Cars don’t get tickets, drivers do — but those drivers like the WRX,” Insurance.com Managing Editor Des Toups said in a statement, according to NBC News.
CBS notes that the WRX, with a starting price of $26,295 for the 2015 model, receives more tickets because the rather inexpensive four-cylinder vehicle is favored by younger drivers, who tend to be more inexperienced and careless.
The study did not reveal how fast drivers traveled when they received tickets or the specific traffic violations.
Below are the 20 most-ticketed vehicles, according to the study, following by the percentage of its drivers with tickets.
- Subaru WRX – 33.6 percent
- Pontiac GTO – 32.7 percent
- Scion FR-S – 32.6 percent
- Toyota Supra – 30.8 percent
- Subaru Tribeca – 29.7 percent
- Volkswagen Rabbit – 29.6 percent
- Mercury Topaz – 28.8 percent
- Scion tC – 28.8 percent
- Toyota FJ Cruiser – 28.4 percent
- Mazda2 – 28.1 percent
- Hyundai Veloster – 28.1 percent
- Volkswagen GTI – 28.1 percent
- Suzuki Reno – 28.1 percent
- Scion xA – 27.8 percent
- Pontiac G8 – 27.7 percent
- MINI Cooper S Countryman – 27.5 percent
- Mitsubishi 3000 GT – 27.4 percent
- Saturn Aura – 27.1 percent
- Infiniti QX56/QX80 – 27.1 percent
- Toyota Prius C – 27 percent
See where your vehicle ranks on the list on the Insurance.com website.
To gather its data, Insurance.com analyzed online quote information submitted by more than 557,000 drivers shopping for car insurance from January 2013 to July 2014. Ticket data was calculated for models with 50 or more quotes. The website did not list a margin of error with its study.
The study is being questioned by some auto blogs that say the sample size isn’t reflective of reality.
“These facts are almost useless because the list isn’t based on percentages from the whole pool. The study’s ranking comes from owners of specific vehicles, and these numbers aren’t mentioned anywhere in the company’s press release,” writes Auto Blog about the study. “All we know about the sample size for each model is that it’s higher than 50.”
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