Motorists like to complain about traffic cops in their hometown. We all know which towns to hit the brakes and which towns you can get away going 5 mph over the limit. For truckers, it would be nice to know which states have the costliest speeding enforcement. Online financial website WalletHub figured out just that.
WalletHub analyzed the speeding laws of all 50 states and D.C. to find out which states are the strictest when it comes to speeding motorists. Data considered include at what point speeding is considered reckless driving, type of speed limit (absolute or with exception), average increase in cost of insurance after one speeding ticket, laws in place prohibiting highway racing, use of speed cameras, penalties for aggressive driving, and effect of speeding tickets on license suspensions.
Although there seems to be a concentration of high scores on the coasts, Delaware and Colorado take the top two spots. Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma appear to have better things to do than focus on speeding motorists.
According to WalletHub’s study, the average cost of the most serious reckless driving ticket is $845. In Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico and Ohio, reckless driving violations are as low as $100. In Oregon, it’s as high as $6,250.
When it comes to insurance, the highest additional cost after one ticket is in Alaska, a rate increase of more than 65 percent, according to a WalletHub spokesperson. New Hampshire has the lowest with a rate increase of 2.4 percent, the company says.
As WalletHub points out, speeding is dangerous and was a factor in 27 percent of vehicle crash deaths in 2016. No secret to truckers, going over 60 mph, or thereabouts, can be less fuel efficient as well. Point being, no one is encouraging speeding here.
Keep in mind, these numbers likely pertain to passenger vehicles. With that said, which states do you think are the strictest and most lenient for truckers when it comes to speeding?