Some say wealthy drivers get away with more traffic violations on the road, simply because they are rich. Others say the wealthy are targeted by police, who are always on the lookout for a bright red Ferrari (preferably out of state) to slap with a fat fine.

I haven't found any truly scientific studies that look at ticketing rates for luxury-car drivers. But a new study cited in the Chicago Tribune, and conducted by LeaseTrader.Com, an online marketplace for car leases, shows that people who drive luxury cars reported a higher likelihood of believing they will get a ticket than those who drive nonlux rides.

The company polled 2,000 drivers, broken into four categories: drivers of economy cars, midsize, sport-utility vehicles and luxury (like BMW 7-Series of Mercedes M Class).

The survey showed that 63% of luxury drivers feel they will get a speeding ticket if they travel 10 miles an hour faster than the limit. That was much higher than midsize drivers, at 46%, SUV/truck drivers, 41%, and economy drivers, 28%.

Fully 62% of luxury drivers felt they were likely to get a ticket running a red light, compared with 16% of economy drivers.

Parking fines were a different story. Nearly three quarters of luxury drivers felt they wouldn't receive a parking ticket, compared to 21% of SUV drivers.

Do you think luxury-car drivers are targeted more for tickets? And why is parking different?

Robert Frank

• wealthy [´welθi] a.富有的；丰富的 (初中英语单词)
• traffic [´træfik] n.交通，运输 (初中英语单词)
• scientific [,saiən´tifik] a.科学(上)的 (初中英语单词)
• luxury [´lʌkʃəri] n.奢侈(品)；享受 (初中英语单词)
• economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
• survey [´sə:vei] vt.&n.俯瞰；审视；测量 (初中英语单词)
• running [´rʌniŋ] a.奔跑的；流动的 (初中英语单词)
• lookout [´lukaut] n.警戒；景色；前途 (英语四级单词)
• chicago [ʃi´kɑ:gəu] n.芝加哥 (英语四级单词)
• tribune [´tribju:n] n.<<论坛报>> (英语六级单词)
• likelihood [´laiklihud] n.可能，相似性 (英语六级单词)