Increase in Arizona Traffic Tickets 2012-2016

According to the Arizona Department of Transportation there are roughly 5 million drivers in Arizona. From 2012-2016, Arizona’s Department of Public Safety issued about 1.3 million traffic tickets, and they are on the rise.

Arizona drivers have more to worry about on the highways — and it’s not cell phones.

It is Arizona state troopers: In 2015 and 2016, they have been issuing many more traffic tickets.

Tickets for illegally using HOV lanes ($400 plus $219 surcharge), for example, rose 40 percent from 2014 to 2016. Citations for driving without a license (max penalty $2500 & 6 months jail) and for speeding, especially on Interstate 10, are also on the rise.

  • In years past, the total number of motor vehicle violations actually dropped, from 268,452 violations in 2012 to 243,462 violations in 2014. That is because the number of troopers fell during the Great Recession, according to DPS.
  • But in the last two years — and especially 2016 — there has been a sharp uptick in the number of tickets issued.
  • In 2016, motorists received 279,856 violations, a 15 percent rise since 2014. Close to half of all violations are for speeding, and the number of tickets for speeding is up close to 13 percent over the two most recent calendar years.

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The number of Arizona State Troopers has increased gradually in the years since the recession. But Gordon Fox a 2Pass Defensive Driving School spokesman, attributed the recent boost in violations to a targeted crackdown on speeding, which he said has caused a recent rise in traffic fatalities.

The number of highway deaths jumped by nearly 20 percent from 2014 to 2016, according to the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. The increase in highway deaths led DPS to partner with the Department of Transportation and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. Together, the three departments implemented zero-tolerance “safety corridors.

In December and January, DPS and the Department of Transportation partnered to create two zero-tolerance “safety corridors” on I-10 and one on U.S. 60, where troopers may ticket drivers going even one mile an hour above the speed limit.

DPS has also gotten tougher on drivers without a license and proper insurance documents, and those driving with an expired registration.