When, where & how likely are you to get a traffic ticket in Wichita? What data suggests
Who is most likely to get caught breaking traffic and parking laws on Wichita streets?
Where and when are they cited?
Here’s what the most recent full year of traffic and parking ticket data shows.
Where most tickets went overall
Unsurprisingly, most of the more than 31,000 citations handed out by the city of Wichita in 2022 went to people who drive and park vehicles around the city. But passengers, pedestrians and people using other types of transportation, such as scooters, got ticketed, too, Wichita Municipal Court data shows.
Driving over the speed limit was the most common violation, encompassing more than 14,000 of the citations last year, followed by parking violations at meters on city lots and on streets, with more than 4,300 tickets issued.
Overall, the tickets included around 40,000 charges. Most of the tickets were for one charge, but some had up to 11 violations listed. Officers in the Wichita Police Department wrote most of the citations, but other city employees issued them, too — especially for parking.
Most-ticketed locations in Wichita
455 N. Main, the address of Wichita City Hall — at least 1,983 tickets, mostly meter violations in the parking lot
100 E. Elm, close to the downtown courthouses and jail — at least 473 tickets, nearly all for meter violations on the street
7900 W. 21st St., between Ridge and Tyler, a stretch of road near homes, businesses and churches — at least 361 tickets, almost all for speeding
300 S. Main, in downtown by Century II Performing Arts and Convention Center— at least 354 tickets, most for parking lot meter violations
8000 W. 21st St., a stretch of road by several churches — at least 339 tickets, the majority for speeding
900 W. 13th St., an area with homes and small businesses in the North Riverside Neighborhood — at least 284 tickets, mostly speeding violations
12th and Hillside, an intersection near the northwest corner of Maple Grove Cemetery — at least 279 tickets, nearly all for speeding
9200 E. Kellogg, near Webb — approximately 260 tickets, the majority for speeding
100 S. Main, in downtown by Douglas — at least 238 tickets, almost all for parking lot meter violations
100 N. Market, in downtown between Douglas and First Street— at least 231 tickets, more than half for parking in a truck loading zone
Wichita drivers make these traffic mistakes most often. Here’s what a ticket will cost you
Tickets were issued most often on...
Wednesday, with more than 7,200 written last year — or about 139 a day. Tuesday was the second busiest ticket-writing day of the week, with more than 6,800 issued over the year. Police were least likely to issue citations on Saturdays (1,588 total, or about 30 a day) and on Sundays (1,157 total, or about 22 a day).
Mid-mornings and early afternoons were the busiest ticket-writing hours. Over the entire year, authorities wrote more than 3,000 tickets in each of the 9 and 10 o’clock hours, and also in the 1 o’clock hour. The next busiest times were in the 8 o’clock hour and between 2 and 4 p.m., with more than 2,000 tickets issued over the entire year each.
Authorities wrote tickets least often in the hours before sunup, from 3 to 6 a.m.
You’re most likely to get a ticket if you’re...
A male or in your twenties.
Men received more tickets than women last year, 50.7% to 37%. The gender of the violator wasn’t listed in the data or was unknown about 12% of the time.
People in their twenties were the most-cited age group, with nearly 27% of tickets (8,562), followed by thirty-somethings with 18.6% (5,883). People in their forties received 13.5% of citations (4,271). Teenagers and pre-teens got 10% (3,173).
Tickets by race
Of all parking and traffic tickets issued, two-thirds of the recipients, or 66.7%, were white; 16.1% were Black; about 2.4% were Asian or Pacific Islander; and less than half a percent were American Indian or native Alaskan. The race wasn’t listed or was unknown in about 14% of cases.
Parking tickets typically had no driver information listed because they usually involve empty cars. Those excluded, white people received nearly 76% of the tickets, Black people received nearly 18%, Asians and Pacific Islanders received less than 3%, and the rest went to other heritages or had no racial identifiers.
The overall racial makeup of the city of Wichita is 70.6% white, 10.3% Black, 4.9% Asian, 1% American Indian or native Alaskan and less than 1% native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. Just over 8% of people belong to two or more racial groups and about 17.6% are Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s July 2022 population estimates.
Wichita’s total population is approximately 396,000.