Be Careful Driving Here: These Are States Where You Are Most Likely to Get a Speeding Ticket

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Be Careful Driving Here: These Are States Where You Are Most Likely to Get a Speeding Ticket

© GoodLifeStudio / Getty Images

New research shows there is a very large spread of how likely people are to get a speeding ticket by state. The data collected included state, total speeding tickets per year and tickets issued per 10,000 from for a single year.

The states with the largest populations were also those that have the highest total ticket counts per year. California was first with a total of 1,053,925. New York was second with 712,370, followed by Florida at 704,092. At the other end of the spectrum, states with low populations had smaller raw ticket counts. North Dakota had only 4,512, Vermont had 10,993, followed by West Virginia at 12,916. Each of these states has a “worst city to drive in.”

The researchers commented that raw ticket count is not a good means to show the likelihood of getting a ticket in a given state. A much more accurate measure is the number of tickets issued per 10,000. They said: “With that in mind, we took the number of tickets every state has issued and the most recent population count from the US Census to find out how many tickets each state issues per 10,000 people that live in the state. This allowed us to get a truer idea of which states are the most and least likely to issue speeding tickets to drivers.”

By the measurement per 10,000 drivers, a tiny state based on size rose to the top of the list of the 10 states where people are most likely to get a speeding ticket. Tickets per 10,000 people in Wyoming were measured at 903.45. This was followed by South Carolina at 824.95, Oregon at 665.76, Georgia at 638.32, Washington at 610.64, Mississippi at 599.29, Arizona at 566.56, North Carolina at 534.31, South Dakota at 519.54 and Utah at 504.57. The researchers reported: “At the top of the list is Wyoming, where one out of a little more than 11 people in the state can expect to receive a speeding ticket.”

[nativounit]

The states where people are least likely to get a speeding ticket are West Virginia at 64.3, Michigan at 69.95, North Dakota at 71.60, Illinois at 95.12, Alabama at 105.19, Vermont at 119.74, Pennsylvania at 124.07, Colorado at 132.39, Montana at 146.12 and Oklahoma at 153.85. Some of these are among the states with the most dangerous roads.

Most states have a speed limit of 65 to 70 miles per hour on freeways. In Idaho, Montana, Nevada, South Dakota, and Utah and Wyoming, that rises to 80 mph. And in Texas, on some roads, it is as high as 85 mph. State Highway 130, which runs for 40 miles between Austin and San Antonio, has been dubbed the “nation’s fastest highway” because it has an 85 mph speeding limit across its entire length.

The researchers at Yonker Honda spelled out their methodology: “All told, we were able to get at least one year of speeding ticket data from between 2011-2017 for 48 of the 50 states (Arkansas and Louisiana proved too elusive), and for most of them, we were able to find and compare that data across multiple years in our time frame.” Aside from speeding cameras, you have to watch out for bad drivers, too. These are the cities with the most aggressive drivers in America.

[recirclink id=542501]

State Tickets (Most Recent Year) Per 10K Citizens
Wyoming 42,047 (2017) 903.45
South Carolina 388,631 (2015) 824.95
Oregon 322,871 (2015) 665.76
Georgia 601,905 (2017) 638.32
Washington 416,699 (2015) 610.64
Mississippi 171,070 (2013) 599.29
Arizona 264,474 (2016) 566.56
North Carolina 528,062 (2017) 534.31
South Dakota 49,598 (2016) 519.54
Utah 140,146 (2017) 504.57

Note: Tickets per 10,000 citizens figures are averages for all years in which data was available. Source: Yonkers Honda
[wallst_email_signup]

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618