Florida Drivers Have One Of The Lowest Rates For Speeding Tickets
This was not a story on Florida drivers I expected to be writing. I expected us to be high on the list for speeding tickets, certainly not near the bottom. But the data is here, showing that there’s a lot less Florida drivers with speeding tickets than you’d think.
Listen, driving in Florida can be quite adventurous, I know. Last year I remember dropping a friend off at the airport in Fort Myers. It was the morning of a holiday, so there was no work or school and there wasn’t a lot of traffic. I took the on ramp from Corkscrew Road to 75 North and did what I always do – match the speed of traffic and merge. No lie, it was 100 mph. And at 100 mph, there were still cars going around me.
I’m not telling Central Florida residents anything new. Ya’ll got I4, which some say is the most dangerous road in the country. We move fast in Florida.
And I’ll admit, I do drive a bit over the speed limit, but I usually keep it under 80 on I75. It feels totally normal – until you visit another state. When I go to Ohio I feel like Ricky Bobby on Talladega Nights. I was back in Columbus last January weaving around traffic like they were standing still. How fast was I driving? 5 mph over the limit. F-I-V-E. Ohio drivers don’t just obey the speed limit, they drive under the limit. This is how I feel like when I get to where I’m going in Ohio:
Speeding Tickets
The team at MarketWatch Guides has analyzed data across the country to reveal the states which receive the most and least speeding tickets. We’ll start off with this mind boggling stat: Almost 15% of Ohio drivers have received a speeding ticket. Maybe that’s why they drive so slow, they already have points on their license and they’re not looking for more. So now we know the upper end is 15%, let’s see how Florida fares.
Rank | State | Drivers with a speeding ticket |
1 | Connecticut | 4.74% |
2 | New Jersey | 5.52% |
3 | Nevada | 6.46% |
4 | Florida | 6.92% |
5 | Kentucky | 7.24% |
6 | Pennsylvania | 7.26% |
7 | Rhode Island | 7.34% |
8 | Massachusetts | 7.36% |
8 | Maine | 7.36% |
10 | Louisiana | 7.50% |
Less Than 7% Of Floridians Have Speeding Tickets
People drive fast here in Florida and I’m wondering how this number can be so low, but then I look back to last weekend when Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill was detained over allegations of careless driving and failure to wear a seat belt. ‘Careless driving’, and not speeding. On his ticket it reads “High rate of speed visual estimation 60 MPH.” So they say Tyreek was speeding, but maybe in Florida we are getting tickets that aren’t actually speeding tickets, but essentially mean the same.
Be Safe
We’re out of season right now, and yes, there’s less traffic. But the snowbirds and tourists will be back before you know it. And they usually drive slower as they aren’t sure where they’re going. Watch your speed, there’s much worse consequences that can happen besides speeding tickets.