New Jersey has emerged as the state with the second-lowest number of tickets given to drivers, according to a report by Insurify, an insurance comparison website. The report analyzed data from 2022 to determine the prevalence of speeding and failure to yield violations across the United States.
When you think of New Jersey, you think of aggressive driving, left-lane slowpoke and everyone in a rush to get somewhere else. But when it comes to tickets, maybe it’s just that the police aren’t really watching as closely as they are in most other states.
It could also be because state laws handcuff police in New Jersey and find it easier just to turn the other shoulder and not get themselves into a situation where they can later be penalized by state officials or in a situation where a liberal prosecutor will dismiss a ticket.
Criminal justice in New Jersey has been overhauled in recent years under Governor Phil Murphy and police morale statewide is reportedly at record lows, but whether or not that has to do with the lack of ticket writing, we may never know.
Nationally, approximately 9.18% of drivers had a speeding ticket on record in 2022, almost equivalent to the number of Americans who consider basketball their favorite sport. Meanwhile, 35.0 drivers per 10,000 were found to have a failure to yield violation on record, making it relatively less common but still a noteworthy concern on the roads. The median maximum posted speed limit for urban interstates in the country is set at 65 mph.
Surprisingly, the Northeast region of the United States, often thought to be fast-paced, has proven to have drivers who accrue speeding violations at below-average rates. Insurify’s 2022 data reveals that states like Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and New Jersey are among the top ten states with the fewest speeding tickets. Connecticut stands out as the state with the least speeding-prone drivers, with only 4.74% of its motorists reporting a prior speeding infraction on record.
Interestingly, the report found a significant correlation between speeding and failure to yield violations. States with a high share of drivers with a speeding ticket are also more likely to have a high proportion of drivers with a failure to yield violation on record. These failure to yield infractions, whether to another driver or to a pedestrian, are considered serious violations, further emphasizing the importance of safe and responsible driving behavior.