Why do Speeding Tickets happen in Pairs?

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There have been tons of discussion around "Flashy Car Colors leading to tickets", but do speeding tickets happen in pairs (read: within a week) ? Well based on my experience in PA and in WA, and some of my friends here at work (who shall be unnamed for once on my blog), The the answer to this is Yes.

This is counter-intuitive to logic. One would argue that after the first infraction you would go slower for a while and the chances of the 2nd ticket closer to the first would be a lower probability event.

Apparently not. I am lost on explanation for this observation though. Are there any other theories out there?

Comments

  • Anonymous
    June 28, 2006
    It happens to me too!  I used to take a trip from Seattle to San Francisco every year at Thanksgiving and I'll be darned if I didn't get two tickets every time.  Typically one on the way down as I passed through the desert past Mt. Shasta and one on the way back up.

    I blame it on the desert and the oh-so-smooth asphalt highway they've got there.  That and the air patrols that seem to be able to spot a white Protege barrelling down I-5 at 110mph.

    "Do you know how fast you were going?"
    Um.. 65?
    "Step out of the vehicle, please."
  • Anonymous
    July 12, 2006
    From a psychology perspective, this trend is called variable interval conditioning. Drivers consider speeding tickets in much the same way as they consider winning on a slot machine. If they just got a ticket, then they believe that they won't get another one for a while.
  • Anonymous
    August 16, 2006
    Late June, I had managed to get myself 2 tickets within a week which were to be contested at the...
  • Anonymous
    September 03, 2006
    The comment has been removed