What You Drive Defines Your Driving Style

Quality Planning, the ISO company that validates policyholder information for auto insurers, has released proprietary findings that confirm a strong correlation between what people drive and how they drive.

The findings show that drivers of high-performance vehicles are by no means in the lead when it comes to counting the Top 10 most-ticketed vehicles. Topping the list with the most violations was the Hummer H2/H3, with 4.63 times the number of violations compared to the overall average. At the other end of the spectrum is the old standby — the pick-up truck.

Speculating why certain vehicles (and their drivers) are ticketed more or less frequently is a subject of great debate. The driver behind the wheel of one vehicle may be eager to express his individuality, while another views his vehicle as nothing more than a way to get from A to B. Mark Foster, author of "A Nation on Wheels: The Automobile Culture in America Since 1945", offered his assessment on the statistics: “Hummer drivers feel like kings of the road because of their elevated driving position. As these statistics show, they are leading the pack when it comes to violating the law, which may reflect their driving attitude.”

“The sense of power that Hummer drivers derive from their vehicle may be directly correlated with the number of violations they incur,” said Dr. Raj Bhat, president of Quality Planning. “Or perhaps Hummer drivers, by virtue of their driving position, are less likely to notice road hazards, signs, pedestrians, and other drivers.”

Another surprise that emerged from the statistics: three different Scion models made the Top 10 list of vehicles with the highest percentage of violations. According to Toyota, the Scion tC’s average customer is under 25 years old, and the Scion demographic skews to early 30s. Youth typically does correlate with a higher incidence of violations, and Toyota’s popularity with youthful drivers may partially explain this new-found notoriety. Not so surprising is that two of the most powerful cars on the road, both sold by Mercedes, also appear in the Top 10.

Table 1 — vehicles with highest percentage of violations

Make	Model	Body Style	Violations*
Hummer	H2/H3	SUV	463%
Scion	tC	Coupe	460%
Scion	XB	Station Wagon	403%
Mercedes Benz	CLK63 AMG	Coupe	397%
Toyota	Solara	Coupe	306%
Mercedes Benz	CLS63 AMG	Coupe	276%
Scion	XA	Hatchback	275%
Subaru	Outback	Station Wagon	266%
Audi	A4	Sedan	264%
Toyota	Matrix	Hatchback	264%

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

On the “Well-Behaved Vehicle List” are those vehicles whose drivers’ moving violations are well below average. Violations involving these vehicle models appear to correlate positively with driver age, occupation, and/or lifestyle. For example, the Jaguar XJ and Buick Park Avenue are often driven by mature, experienced drivers who are more focused on comfort and driving experience than on personal expression. In addition, compared to those vehicles with numerous violations, there are more minivans, SUVs, and pickups with low violations. That finding is worthy of a tip-of-the-hat to soccer moms and hard-hat workers, who, day in and day out, are among the safest drivers on the road.

Table 2 — vehicles with lowest percentage of violations

Make	Model	Body Style	Violations*
Jaguar	XJ	Sedan	11%
Chevrolet	Suburban	SUV	16%
Chevrolet	Tahoe	SUV	21%
Chevrolet	C/K- 3500/2500	Pickup	28%
Buick	Park Avenue	Sedan	32%
Mazda	6	Sedan	34%
Buick	Rainier	SUV	37%
Oldsmobile	Silhouette	Minivan	37%
Buick	Lucerne	Sedan	40%
GMC	Sierra C1500	Pickup	40%

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

Study Methodology
Traffic code violations data for a one-year period from 2007 and 2008 were used for the study. Vehicles that were discontinued for more than 10 years were not included in the analysis. Violations were standardized based on the number of violations per 100,000 miles driven for each model. That standardization accounts for the differences in average annual miles driven by different models. Each vehicle model’s violation count per 100,000 miles was compared with the average across all the models to identify the 10 models with the highest and lowest violations, as compared to the average. For example, Hummer drivers were 4.63 times more likely to get a ticket, as compared to the average.

For more information, visit www.iso.com.