Crash Data Journalism · Issue 02
What a Month of Tampa Traffic Tickets Reveals
We analyzed nearly 20,000 traffic citations from the Hillsborough County court records — in aggregate, no personal data. A third of them now come from a camera, the red-light camera is the most-issued single citation, and the average speeder clocked was going 16 mph over.
01A third of Tampa's traffic tickets come from a camera
Automated enforcement has quietly become a third of all citations. Red-light cameras, school-zone speed cameras, and school-bus photo enforcement together outnumber every category except general speeding.
How the 19,717 sampled citations were issued.
What the cameras are catching -- the 6,463 camera-issued citations by type.
Red-light cameras alone accounted for 4,628 citations — the single most common ticket in the entire dataset, more than any speeding or moving violation an officer wrote. That matters after a crash: a red-light-camera record can be independent evidence that the other driver ran the light — the exact fact that decides fault in an intersection collision.
02The violations that actually cause crashes
Strip out paperwork offenses and the crash-causing behaviors rise to the top: speed, running lights, careless driving, and impairment.
Crash-relevant violations among 19,717 sampled citations.
| Violation | Citations |
|---|---|
| Red-light camera — fail to stop | 4,628 |
| School-zone speed cameras | 1,522 |
| Municipal speed (posted) | 1,294 |
| Careless driving | 1,182 |
| Unlawful speed — exceed limit | 1,073 |
| Driving while license suspended | 961 |
| Speeding — state posted road | 649 |
| Speed 70 — interstate | 412 |
| Driver not belted | 400 |
| Ran a stop sign | 325 |
The 10 most-written citations in the sample. Camera-generated violations are highlighted.
DUI ran to 388 citations — roughly nine every single day in this one county — and “careless driving” (Florida's catch-all for the inattentive at-fault driver) is exactly the citation that so often accompanies a rear-end or intersection wreck. If you were hit, the other driver's citation is worth finding: it's public, specific, and can anchor the fault question before the insurers start arguing.
03Who writes the tickets
Three agencies account for nearly all enforcement in the county.
Citations by issuing agency (sample).
Tampa PD and the Sheriff's Office write the overwhelming majority; Florida Highway Patrol handles the interstates. Knowing which agency responded to your crash tells you where the report — and any citation or dashcam — will live.
04How fast is 'speeding'?
Where an officer recorded both the posted and actual speed, the average violator was going 16 mph over — and a striking share were far beyond that.
Speed over the limit, where posted and actual speed were both recorded (n=5,684).
About a third of the clocked speeders — 1,829 — were doing 20 mph or more over the limit, the range where a survivable fender-bender becomes a serious-injury crash. Speed doesn't just raise the odds of a wreck; it raises the odds that the wreck hurts someone.
Put this to work on your own case
Free, private tools that track your Florida deadlines, estimate what you'd actually keep after fees, and draft your claim — no account, nothing leaves your phone.
Common questions
How many Tampa traffic tickets come from cameras instead of officers?
About one in three. In our 45-day sample of 19,717 Hillsborough County citations, 6,463 (33%) were camera-issued -- red-light cameras, school-zone speed cameras, and school-bus photo enforcement -- while officers wrote the other 67%.
What is the most common single traffic citation in Tampa?
The red-light camera. Red-light cameras alone accounted for 4,628 citations in the sample -- the single most-issued ticket, more than any speeding or moving violation an officer wrote.
How many DUI citations does Hillsborough County issue?
The sample recorded 388 DUI citations over 45 days -- roughly nine every single day in this one county. A drunk-driving citation against the other driver is public and specific, and can anchor the fault question after a crash.
How fast are Tampa speeders actually going?
Where an officer recorded both the posted and actual speed (n=5,684), the average violator was 16 mph over the limit, and about a third -- 1,829 drivers -- were doing 20 mph or more over, the range where a survivable fender-bender becomes a serious-injury crash. These are aggregate public-records figures, not legal advice about any individual ticket.
More investigations
- Which Car Insurers Do Florida Crash Victims Sue Most?We matched every insurance company named in a year of Tampa Bay crash lawsuits -- across Hillsborough and Pinellas, the two Florida counties that publish open bulk civil-court data -- against how many Florida drivers each one actually insures. The company sued most often is not the one injured people sue most often, and once you adjust for size, one big carrier generates far more genuine injury lawsuits per customer than its rivals. Two counties, examined separately, land on the same finding.Less Than 1% of Florida Crash Lawsuits Reach a Jury — and Winning Isn't Getting PaidWe analyzed thousands of closed auto-injury cases and post-judgment records from Hillsborough and Pinellas — the two Florida counties that publish open bulk civil-court data, together the Tampa Bay core. Almost none go to trial. The settlement amount is never in the file. And even the people who win a judgment often have to send the sheriff after the money.What a Year of Florida's Crash Courts RevealsWe read every civil filing in one of Florida's biggest counties for a year — 76,085 of them, 10,729 crash-related. Most “car-accident lawsuits” that name an insurer turn out not to be injured people at all, the busiest “crash lawyers” have never represented a victim, and in one of every four serious cases the injured driver has to sue their own insurance company.
Related guides
Methodology. We sampled the most recent 45 daily traffic-citation files published by the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court and analyzed them strictly in aggregate — 19,717 citations. No personal information (names, dates of birth, license numbers, addresses) was retained or analyzed; we counted only violation types, issuing agencies, dispositions, recorded speeds, and fine amounts. “Camera-issued” combines red-light-camera, school-zone speed-camera, and school-bus photo-enforcement citations. Speed figures use only records where both a posted and an actual speed were present. This is a rolling sample from one county, meant to show enforcement patterns, not a census.
This is data journalism and general information, not legal advice. Figures describe aggregate public-record patterns, not any individual case or outcome.