You may hear your elders tell you that driving laws in your town or state are “some of the worst in the country.” They could be telling you that to keep you driving safe, or just our of ignorance. The fact is, some states are definitely worse than others, and thankfully we can prove it with math!

The fiscally savvy folks over at WalletHub have put together a complex study of which states are the worse for financial penalties. The company looked at 12 key metrics across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. And they found that the worst state for tickets was…Colorado. Illinois came in a close second, tied with Delaware, Arizona and New Mexico.

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Though not the outright winner, Illinois has it pretty bad. Their law enforcement automatically considers speeding reckless driving, and as a result, it incurs the highest maximum fine (especially for your second reckless offense, which is just your second speeding ticket). The report also cites the frequency jail time issued for a first reckless offense as well as second offense as to why Illinois is, financially, a terrible place to speed in.

Overall Rank

(1=Strictest) State Reckless Penalties

Rank Speeding Enforcement

Rank 1 Colorado 2 10 2 Arizona 10 2 2 Delaware 1 23 2 Illinois 8 4 5 New Mexico 10 4 6 Virginia 8 14 7 Iowa 24 1 7 Massachusetts 2 31 9 Alabama 10 15 10 District Of Columbia 15 10 11 Arkansas 4 44 11 California 5 31 11 Oregon 19 7 11 Washington 19 7 15 West Virginia 6 31 16 Kansas 10 26 16 Maryland 27 7 18 Indiana 27 10 18 Missouri 41 2 18 North Carolina 15 19 21 Oklahoma 6 47 21 Wyoming 14 26 23 Hawaii 24 17 23 New York 41 6 25 Alaska 19 23 25 Louisiana 40 10 25 Maine 19 23 25 Vermont 15 31 29 Idaho 15 44 30 Tennessee 41 15 31 Connecticut 27 31 31 Georgia 27 31 31 Minnesota 27 31 31 Nevada 24 38 35 Florida 37 26 35 North Dakota 27 38 35 Rhode Island 27 38 38 Michigan 19 48 38 Wisconsin 45 17 40 Kentucky 45 19 40 Montana 36 44 40 Nebraska 37 38 40 New Jersey 37 38 40 Ohio 45 19 40 South Carolina 45 19 46 New Hampshire 27 48 47 Mississippi 45 26 47 Pennsylvania 45 26 47 South Dakota 41 38 47 Utah 27 50 51 Texas 45 50

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The study also found that 75% of states have “absolute” speed limits, meaning just by going over the limit, the state has enough to convict you of speeding. The other quarter of states have laws that allow your to argue in court that the speeding was reasonable. Also, while no states have mandatory jail time, if you are convicted of reckless driving, expect to spend at least a night in jail.

Across the country, the average maximum cost of a speeding ticket is $742. The highest is Washington state, where you could incur up to $5,000 on a single ticket. Kentucky, Mississippi, and New Mexico are all tied for the lowest, with a $100 maximum fine.

Check out the full report to see where your state stacks up for speeding tickets.

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