A nationwide study examining police ticket data across the United States has revealed one very important list — which cars don't get tickets. We've broken down the list below.
Quality Planning — a company that validates policyholder info for auto insurers put together this list based on data gathered between August 2007 and September 2008, using a sample size of 1.7 million vehicles.
Click "next" or select any car to learn how it made the list.
[via AOL Autos]
Photo credit: Kipp Baker
Vehicle: 2009 GMC Sierra 1500
Place: #10 (tied)
Percentage lower than average: 60% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: It's a big pickup truck. Unless you're outfitted with the entire JC Whitney off-road catalog, pickups are as good as invisible on the streets. Well, not invisible, more like moving blind spots blocking your view of traffic. Still, given the utility and apparently lower ticketing rate, the higher fuel consumption and parking woes might be offset.
Vehicle: 2009 Buick Lucerne
Place: #10 (tied)
Percentage lower than average: 60% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: It's a Buick. More accurately, it's a part of the "Old Buick." Recently we've seen signs of life in GM's tri-shield brand with the Buick LaCrosse and Buick Regal, but the Lucerne is positioned staunchly in the "old-man driving 10 MPH under the speed limit in the fast lane" stereotype of Buick. This car isn't ticketed because its drivers don't break the law, well, they don't break speeding laws. Tickets for no turn signals and late turns across three lanes of traffic into Old Country Buffet are rare.
Vehicle: 2004 Oldsmobile Silhouette
Place: #8 (tied)
Percentage lower than average: 63% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Nothing says "I'm not worth your time officer" better than a minivan, especially a GM minivan sadly badged as an Oldsmobile. The Silhouette was GM's pity offering to Olds dealers with nothing interesting in the showroom and acted as a footnote in the last days of the brand. It's nothing if not completely invisible in the real world and the drivers are too busy trying not to be seen to go around breaking traffic laws.
Vehicle: 2007 Buick Rainier
Place: #8 (tied)
Percentage lower than average: 63% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Platform prostitution at its finest, the Buick Rainier started life as the Chevy Trailblazer, which begat the Oldsmobile Bravada, which died with the brand, so it was rebadged as both the Saab 9-7x and Buick Rainier. A lesson in how not to manage a platform for success. The Rainier has not one but two invisibility shields: 1) it's an unremarkable looking SUV, and 2) it's a Buick. Might as well have that fancy cloaking technology the Predator used.
Vehicle: Mazda6
Place: #6
Percentage lower than average: 66% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Despite the Mazda 6's more sporting character compared to other mid-size family sedans, it's still a mid-size family sedan. There are more than enough hot-heads in pony cars and German prickmobiles to collect revenue from.
Vehicle: 2005 Buick Park Avenue
Place: #5
Percentage lower than average: 68% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Quite a preponderance of Buicks on this list isn't there? Of the cars on here, we've always felt the Buick Park Avenue got the short end of the stick. The final generation actually wore some pretty crisp styling but was always burdened by terrible old-fogey wheels and later boasted tacked-on ventiports. The supercharged 3800 V6 would scoot off the line but the floaty suspension and drowsy interior made the idea of breaking the law a non-issue. Plus, what cop wants to ticket the nice little grandma behind the wheel.
Vehicle: Chevrolet C1500, K1500, 2500HD, 3500HD
Place: #4
Percentage lower than average: 72% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Same reason as its GMC Sierra twin, it's a truck and thus nothing more than an large lump taking up space on the road. With the 6.0-liter V8 they can be pretty fast and they're surprisingly agile around a corner, but nobody buys a truck for the go. As to why the Chevy has such a remarkable difference in ticketing rate we haven't a clue, perhaps since GMC buyer paid more for theirs, they feel like they should drive it faster and park in goofy places.
Vehicle: Chevrolet Tahoe
Place: #3
Percentage lower than average: 79% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: If there was a way to make the Silverado more invisible to law enforcement, it's to close up the bed, add a pair of doors and call it the Tahoe. Even the name says law-abiding-white-bread-citizen. There's an interesting paradox here in that based on anecdotal evidence a great many Tahoes are driven with reckless abandon, weaving in and out of traffic as if they own the road. And yet, with their inevitably beige, black, or maroon paint jobs, Tahoes blend into the background like a chameleon.
Vehicle: Chevrolet Suburban
Place: #2
Percentage lower than average: 84% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: Take everything about the Tahoe and add more girth. The big, bad, 'Burb has been sailing American roadways so long it's practically an institution. A last bastion for the family of eight which isn't interested in a full-size van, the Suburban is so big as to be imperceptible on a normal human scale, making it perfect for eluding the radar guns gaze. Their relative rarity these days helps out a lot too.
Vehicle: Jaguar XJ
Place: #1
Percentage lower than average: 89% less likely
Why it isn't ticketed: The Jaguar XJ has a shape almost as old as the idea of the car. Until Ian Callum came along and boogered-up the design with the 2010 Jaguar XJ, the car was so ubiquitous, and favored by such old buyers, it's practically never ticketed. The colors are generally sedate and unassuming, British Racing Green is as crazy as it gets, none of those obscene reds and yellows that draw radar guns. The trick is beneath the 40 year old skin is the possibility of an all-aluminum automobile sporting a 400 HP supercharged V8. It's a perfect sleeper and the car least likely to get you ticketed.