It pays to play by the rules when you're driving, especially when it comes to speeding. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, as a rule of thumb, you can assume that every 5 mph you drive over 60 mph will you 7% more for gasoline. But more importantly, speeding kills. In 2016, speeding was a factor in 27% of motor vehicle crash deaths, according to WalletHub. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that the annual economic cost to society of speeding-related crashes is $40.4 billion. Related: You just got a moving violation ticket. Now what? |

Speeding will cost you

Some states are tougher on speeding and reckless driving than others. Nearly three-quarters of the states and D.C. have "absolute" speed limits, which means exceeding the limit is enough evidence for a conviction. But about 26% of the states leave for interpretation with "prima facie" laws — or a "mixed" combination of absolute and prima facie rules — allowing speeders to argue in court that their speed was in fact reasonable. For drivers who speed or attempt to justify it — traffic, running late and so on — that won't help if you're caught on camera. Forty-two percent of states and D.C. use speed cameras to automatically catch and fine speeding drivers. From there, drivers can expect points on their record and possible jail time, depending on the state. Additionally, drivers can expect an increase in the cost of their insurance after one speeding ticket (20 mph over the speed limit). On average, 2 points can lead to increases of 40% or more. Related: 25 most expensive car models to insure |

Methodology

To measure the strictness of states' laws against speeding, WalletHub collected data from all 50 states and D.C. on the following metrics and applied the corresponding scores. WalletHub gave the strictest states the highest scores and then summed the scores for speeding (14 points) and reckless driving (16 points) in order to obtain a final rank for each state. Related: 2018's 10 worst states to drive in With this in mind, check out the top 10 ranking of states, from least strict to most strict, on speeding and reckless driving, according to WalletHub.