Who gets the most traffic tickets ?

[RubHer Yellow Ducky]

The most-ticketed vehicle: The Hummer

Published 19 hours ago, by ■ Joan Firstenberg
The most-ticketed vehicle: The Hummer

by Joan Firstenberg.
Drive a hummer H2 or H3? You could be in for a ticket from a cop soon. A new report finds that Hummer drivers are ticketed by police at more than four times the rate of people driving other cars.



The Hummer H2 and H3 have become high risk victims of tickets. The report by ISO Quality Planning of San Francisco also found that other big SUVs, like the Chevrolet Suburban and the Tahoe, are not getting the same number of police tickets. In fact the study shows vehicles that share the Hummer's structural and mechanical basics, but are not the real thing, are among the least likely to be ticketed for moving violations.

The study was based on the number of tickets issued across the country in a 12-month period by drivers of over 1.7 million vehicles. What's up with these results? Quality Planning Raj Bhat says,

"The sense of power that Hummer drivers derive from their vehicle may be directly correlated with the number of violations they incur. Or perhaps Hummer drivers, by virtue of their driving position, are less likely to notice road hazards, signs, pedestrians or other drivers."

The study found other vehicles whose drivers attracted an above-average numbers of tickets are those that appeal to young people, like the Toyota/Scion xA, xB and tC; and at least two that appeal to auto fans, the Mercedes-Benz CLK63 AMG and CLS63 AMG.

This isn't the first survey to single out Hummer drivers. The Highway Loss Data Institute, a suburban Virginia-based group linked with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, says on its Web site that H3s have a "substantially worse than average," rate of claims for property damage, though not for other types of claims. The H2, meanwhile records a substantially worse-then-average record for property damage, bodily injury and fire and theft claims.

But there are some Hummer owners who love their vehicles and don't have any problems with them. Steve Nemiroff of Roslyn Heights, Long Island, a home builder and renovator says he has driven his Hummer over 163-thousand miles, and never been ticketed for a moving violation. He says he bought his H2 Hummer in 2003, and feels extremely safe behind the wheel.

"No matter what the weather or where I am, I never worry about me getting hurt."

The Hummer is made by General Motors.