Quality Planning (QPC), a Verisk
Analytics company that validates policyholder information for auto insurers, has
released updated findings from its original study, published in 2009, that
explored the relationship between the cars people drive and how people drive
them. Newly expanded to include available statistics, the study examines various
vehicle makes and models and quantifies the propensity of each to be ticketed by
law enforcement based on the number of moving violations per 100,000 miles
driven.
Quality Planning found that the origins of vehicles in the
"Spirited Vehicles" category were predominantly those of foreign manufacturers
but not necessarily of German or Italian heritage. Drivers of the Mercedes-Benz
SL-Class roadster topped the list, with four times the number of violations
compared with the average. But, not surprisingly, the car Toyota designed
expressly for Gen 'Y'ers, the Scion, had not one but two entries in the top ten.
The big Hummers and the Pontiac Grand Prix rounded out this category. Consistent
with the findings of last year's study, SUVs and hatchbacks showed lower
violations on average than traditional two- and four-door vehicles.
Table
1: "Spirited Vehicles" (vehicles with highest percentage of violations)
Make |
Model |
Body Style |
Violations* |
Average Age |
% Male |
Mercedes-Benz |
SL-Class |
Convertible |
404% |
53 |
41% |
Toyota |
Camry-Solara |
Coupe |
349% |
50 |
39% |
Scion |
TC |
Coupe |
343% |
30 |
39% |
Hummer |
H2/H3 |
SUV |
292% |
46 |
73% |
Scion |
XB |
Hatchback |
270% |
37 |
40% |
Mercedes-Benz |
CLS-63 AMG |
Sedan |
264% |
46 |
58% |
Acura |
Integra |
Coupe |
185% |
33 |
60% |
Pontiac |
Grand Prix |
Sedan |
182% |
40 |
41% |
Mercedes-Benz |
CLK 63 AMG |
Sedan |
179% |
47 |
44% |
Volkswagen |
GTI |
Hatchback |
178% |
40 |
44% |
* Violations/100,000 miles driven, expressed as percentage of average. For a
complete list, see www.qualityplanning.com.Looking at the gender
breakdown, 73 percent of Hummers tended to be driven by men, generally between
30 and 60 years old. Also of interest, only the Mercedes CLK sedan and the Acura
Integra coupe were more likely to be driven by men than women. Conversely,
Camry-Solara drivers were 61 percent female, with only 26 percent younger than
30.
Those vehicles that Quality Planning classified as "Cautious
Vehicles" offered an interesting contrast. With respect to body type, eight of
the top ten were either an SUV or minivan. This suggests that carrying
passengers, and possibly younger passengers in car seats, makes a noticeable
difference in how one drives. Interestingly, 60 percent of SUV drivers in this
category were women, whereas for minivans, 51 percent of these drivers were
women. In two instances - the Oldsmobile Silhouette minivan and the Buick LaCrosse SUV
- the drivers were split 50/50 across gender but differed
dramatically in age, with Buick showing 81 percent of ticketed drivers over 60
years old compared with just 8 percent of Silhouette drivers.
Table 2:
"Cautious Vehicles" (vehicles with lowest percentage of violations)
Make |
Model |
Body Style |
Violations* |
Average Age |
% Male |
Buick |
Rainier |
SUV |
23% |
61 |
71% |
Mazda |
Tribute |
SUV |
26% |
36 |
29% |
Chevrolet |
C/K- 3500/2500 |
Pickup |
26% |
40 |
86% |
Kia |
Spectra |
Sedan |
27% |
40 |
44% |
Buick |
Lacrosse |
SUV |
32% |
65 |
50% |
Saturn |
Aura Hybrid |
Sedan |
37% |
59 |
14% |
Oldsmobile |
Silhouette |
Minivan |
37% |
41 |
50% |
Chevrolet |
Uplander |
Minivan |
38% |
40 |
54% |
Hyundai |
Tucson |
SUV |
38% |
47 |
40% |
Pontiac |
Vibe |
SUV |
39% |
41 |
32% |
* Violations/100,000 miles driven, expressed as percentage of average. For a
complete list, see www.qualityplanning.com."These findings and the
corresponding trends they reveal are very interesting," said Bob U'Ren, senior
vice president of Quality Planning. "Besides the sociological aspect of 'who
drives what,' the manner in which private passenger cars and trucks are driven
has a meaningful bearing on how much individuals and families pay for auto
insurance."
Study Methodology
Traffic code violations data for a
one-year period from February 2009 through February 2010 were used for the
study. Vehicles that were discontinued for more than ten years were not included
in the analysis. Violations were then 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.
Then, each vehicle model's violation count per 100,000 miles was compared with
the average across all the models to identify the 25 models with the highest and
lowest violations.