Seeing those red lights in the rear view mirror may not be the wallet suck that you think it is, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
A study by the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram reveals that DPS Troopers, who write the vast number of traffic violations in the state, pulled over 5650 motorists in Bexar County in 2017, or about 15 per day.
But the vast majority of those didn't result in a drain on the driver's bank account. Only 1941 were citations, while the other 3709 were warnings.
That's about average for the state as a whole. The Star-Telegram says about two thirds of all DPS encounters with motorists last year ended with a warning and not a citation, which carries a fine. The DPS says its goal is to get people to slow down on the highway, not collect money from motorists.
By far the worst place to take that lead foot is the Rio Grande Valley. Starr and HIdalgo Counties produced more tickets than any other counties in the state, and equal to the next five counties combined.
There are only 13 of the state's 254 counties where you are more likely to get a ticket than a warning. They include Bastrop, Gillespie, Live Oak, and Gonzales Counties in the San Antonio area.
If you want to put pedal to the metal, go to Motley, Kent, and Cochran Counties, which had the lowest number of tickets in 2017.