Hummer Drivers Have The Worst Record, Study Finds

Topping the company's list with the most violations was the Hummer H2/H3. Hummer drivers were 4.63 times more likely to get a ticket, as compared to the average for car models.

At the other end of the spectrum is the old standby–the pick-up truck and luxury sedans.

Quality Planning said speculation why certain vehicles (and their drivers) are ticketed more or less frequently is a subject of great debate. The firm said 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.

The company cited commentary from Mark S. Foster, author of "A Nation on Wheels: The Automobile Culture in America Since 1945," that "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."

Raj Bhat, president of Quality Planning, said, "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 and other drivers."

The company said 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 newfound 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.

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.

At the top of the best list is the Jaguar XJ followed closely by the Buick Park Avenue. Such vehicles, said Quality Planning, 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. Quality Planning said that finding indicates that soccer moms and hard-hat workers, day in and day out, are among the safest drivers on the road.

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, the firm said.

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.

Quality Planning is a subsidiary company of Jersey City, N.J.-based Insurance Services Offices. The company validates policyholder information for auto insurers.

The firm said it works with insurance companies to identify areas of significant rating errors using sophisticated database management, statistical analysis and modeling, customized survey design, and highly targeted customer interaction. Quality Planning helps clients work within their existing rating plans and charge fair prices to policyholders based on a true representation of risk.