South Dakota Is One of the Ten Worst States for Getting a Speeding Ticket

In South Dakota there are plenty of wide open spaces where you might be tempted to exceed the posted speed limit by a few miles per hour (or more).

But do so at your own risk.

According to data compiled by a Honda dealership in Yonkers, New York, the Mount Rushmore State is the ninth most likely place in America to get a speeding ticket.

Drivers in South Dakota are ticketed at an alarming rate of 11 times more than the national average. The norm across the country is slightly over 45 drivers per 10,000 cited (45.19), but here that number leaps to nearly 520 (519.54)!

Top 10 States for Most Speeding Tickets (per 10,000 people)

1. Wyoming – 903.45
2. South Carolina – 824.95
3. Oregon – 665.76
4. Georgia – 638.32
5. Washington – 610.64
6. Mississippi – 599.29
7. Arizona – 566.56
8. North Carolina – 534.31
9. South Dakota – 519.54
10. Utah – 504.57

You might want to make the argument that the more rural a state the better the chance you're going to get pulled over but that's not the case.

In neighboring North Dakota you are nearly seven times less likely to get a speeding ticket than in South Dakota.

The Peace Garden State joins West Virginia, Michigan, and Illinois as the only states where fewer than 100 residents per 10,000 get pulled over.

Top 10 States for Least Speeding Tickets (per 10,000 people)

1. West Virginia – 64.34
2. Michigan – 69.95
3. North Dakota – 71.60
4. Illinois – 95.12
5. Alabama- 105.19
6. Vermont – 119.74
7. Pennsylvania – 124.07
8. Colorado – 132.39
9. Montana – 146.12
10. Oklahoma – 153.85

Data from Arkansas and Louisiana were unavailable for this study.