brus brother Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 US News and World Reports: Subaru Outback Subarus have a reputation of being yuppie grocery getters, but the Outback manages to prove that stereotype wrong by being one of the top ten most ticketed cars. Apparently, the Outback is the car of choice for people who need to get to Whole Foods in a hurry, and maybe park illegally once they're there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 so if they pull you over you can claim they are stereotyping based on this report.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Here's a link to a press release with some details:http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Quality-Planning-Corp-936864.html Note that the data is for 'violations', not necessarily ordinary speeding. I suspect it therefore includes things such as 'unsafe lane changing' or 'excessive speed for road conditions', which would require a judgement call by the police officer. I could imagine situations where the Outback driver felt that the car was under complete control, but the officer (perhaps not having ever driven a Subaru AWD) thought otherwise... Unfortunately, this might explain why my insurance premium is as high as it is, even though I've had no accidents or violations for decades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbhrps Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 I need to agree with the findings. With the all wheel drive and new ice grip snow tires, I frequently find myself passing cars that are going perhaps half the speed that I'm able to drive safely. They are driving 35 mph on the highway at pretty much the limit of their traction and control for the snow and ice conditions, and I can go around and past them at 50 mph with complete control. I'm sure a lot of those driver's think I'm absolutely mad. Having never driven a car so utterly at home in slippery conditions, they have no idea how confident it can make you feel, and how much better the car can cope with severe winter drivings conditions, except those of poor visibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muffman Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Glad I have a regular legacy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Its cause they can do it in their outbacks and not worry about their insurance taking a big jump. I do it in my RS or someone in an WRX/STi does it and theirs shoots up. That or the officer couldn't catch the STi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankosolder2 Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 I have a big problem with the methodology of this report. Why lump parking tickets and moving violations into the same category? I certainly hope that insurance companies differentiate between the two forms of tickets; a car which attracts absent minded "forgot to feed the meter" types is not necessarily a greater accident risk on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Did you notice that all least ticketed are gm vehichles? I wonder if this include fleet sale data into the averages. I mean, really how many times is a Gov. Owned blazer gonna get pulled over? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenleg88 Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 i was looking at the way they did the study.. i wondered if they looked at statistics across the country or looked at a percentage and then multiplied it to match the us numbers.. the reason i question this is because the article said san francisco. and there are an INSANE number of outbacks in san francisco... i think that would skew the numbers a little bit. plus i feel liek cops in san francisco are biased against hummers anyway.. so depending on how this study was done.. it can be off.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsince77 Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I need to agree with the findings. With the all wheel drive and new ice grip snow tires, I frequently find myself passing cars that are going perhaps half the speed that I'm able to drive safely. They are driving 35 mph on the highway at pretty much the limit of their traction and control for the snow and ice conditions, and I can go around and past them at 50 mph with complete control. I'm sure a lot of those driver's think I'm absolutely mad. Having never driven a car so utterly at home in slippery conditions, they have no idea how confident it can make you feel, and how much better the car can cope with severe winter drivings conditions, except those of poor visibility. I take the opposite view. I find that because of the great traction and handling on snow and ice, it is very easy for me to get going too fast for the conditions. The problem that we see all the time is that people going off the road, and in this state that can be a long way down, because forget that just because you can go fast forward does not mean that you can safely stop or avoid someone else's mistake. If it's too fast to stop, it's too fast for the conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaruplatt Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I take the opposite view. I find that because of the great traction and handling on snow and ice, it is very easy for me to get going too fast for the conditions. The problem that we see all the time is that people going off the road, and in this state that can be a long way down, because forget that just because you can go fast forward does not mean that you can safely stop or avoid someone else's mistake. If it's too fast to stop, it's too fast for the conditions. Ok I don't think that is what the poster meant. Just because the subaru is all wheel drive doesn't mean people will drive it faster than it can stop. Snow tires will out stop and out handle most all seasons and problems with sumer tires in winter is what we are still contending with. Also there are the exceleration irregularities ie fishtailing that come with 2wd at any speed. But time and time again during a 3 hour drive I was able to navigate snowy in-between areas and make change lanes without feeling compromised. I was able to drive for an hour on snow pack yes at 50 mph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsince77 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Sure I've driven 50 on snowpacked roads lots of times too. Especially when it's really cold. And, of course you can negotiate slippery conditions better with AWD or 4WD than 2wd. But I can tell you that we see this all the time around here with people in both 4wd's and awd's. I think they've been watching too many TV commercials. This is especially true with tourists who don't live in snow country, then fly in and rent a Subaru or a Jeep for a weekend of skiing. I have good friends that run tow trucks and make a fortune off of them. They get going way faster than they should because just cruising down the road they feel in control. I'm not saying that you are doing this, i don't know you. i am saying that sometimes the police are right when they stop someone for driving too fast for the conditions even though that person "felt" in control at the moment. I have done this myself, not gone off the road, but the car feels so solid, that sometimes I underestimate how slick it is. That's all I was getting at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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