Fair and Equitable
Traffic Safety Enforcement

With U.S. alcohol-related traffic deaths at a 16-year high, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) recognizes the need to use limited traffic safety resources in even more efficient and effective ways. Solid data suggests that more equitable traffic safety enforcement could help prevent deaths and injuries, leading MADD to engage with our law enforcement partners and other stakeholders to act on the evidence in ways that advance our mission to save lives. 

MADD works closely with law enforcement officers around the country, supporting enforcement efforts to ensure that our roads are safe. Officers are on the front lines of traffic safety every single day. Without traffic safety enforcement, and the dedication of police officers, traffic fatalities and injuries would increase exponentially. We must do what we can to help foster a higher level of trust between police agencies and the communities they serve. The stakes are too important – the cost is too high. Efforts to ensure that enforcement is fair and just must be paramount. 

Traffic stops are the most frequent engagement between law enforcement and the public, with more than 20 million people stopped for traffic violations each year. Research shows communities of color are disproportionally subject to traffic stops and searches. A study of nearly 100 million traffic stops over a decade across all 50 states found that Black drivers were stopped more frequently than White drivers.[1]

 

One analysis of 20 million stops in North Carolina over a 14-year period found that Black people were 63% more likely than White people to be stopped while driving, despite being 16% less likely to drive.[2] Multiple studies, including eight conducted in Connecticut, identified statistically significant disparities in stops and searches of Black drivers. Black drivers were 1.5 times more likely to be stopped and almost three times more likely to be searched than White drivers. The studies concluded that these disparities are driven by traffic stops for administrative and equipment violations not shown to effectively prevent hazardous driving.[3]

Over the past three years, the U.S. has seen an increase in impaired driving, especially during the pandemic. Overall, drunk driving deaths increased by 14% in 2020 and again in 2021, rising to more than 13,000 for the first time since 2006.[4] In addition to communities of color being disproportionately subject to stops and searches, there is also a disproportionate impact on the number of fatalities. Prior to the pandemic, American Indian or Alaska Native (ALAN), Black or African American, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (NHPI) had higher traffic fatality rates per 100,000 population than White people.[5]

MADD believes we must do more to advocate for high-visibility traffic safety enforcement that reduces hazardous driving behavior. Other studies have found that disparities in traffic stops are reduced when enforcement is focused on hazardous driving behaviors, such as speeding, aggressive driving, failure to maintain a single lane, and failure to obey traffic control signals/device –  indicators of impaired driving and increased crash risk[5] One study featured in Injury Epidemiology highlights how the city of Fayetteville, N.C., not only reduced disparities by prioritizing stops for moving violations such as speeding and impaired driving, but also experienced a significant decrease in traffic deaths and injuries. On average, Fayetteville increased safety stops by 121% and experienced a 28% decrease in traffic fatalities, a 23% reduction in injury crashes and a 7% decrease in stops of drivers who are Black.

While self-reflection is a critical aspect of this work, over the coming weeks and months, MADD will engage actively with partners at the forefront of discussions about equity in traffic safety enforcement, including International Association of Chiefs of Police. We will listen and learn with new and existing stakeholders. We will leverage data driven solutions, technology, and best practices that will better utilize finite safety resources in ways that reduce impaired driving without causing undue harm to any community. We will ensure there is an appropriate level of education and awareness of this issue internally and among stakeholders. These actions will ensure all communities feel safe, valued, and protected while aligning with our number one priority to eliminate impaired driving, save lives, and prevent injuries on U.S. roads, until we reach a nation of No More Victims.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q:  Why is MADD interested in racial equality on our roads and why now?

A:  Traffic deaths are increasing at historic levels. Hazardous driving behaviors such as speeding and impaired driving are the biggest problems. And we just learned that drunk driving deaths have increased by 14% two years in a row, the highest since 2006. Studies show that people of color are disproportionally stopped and searched, and these disparities are driven by traffic stops for administrative and equipment violations that are not shown to effectively prevent hazardous driving behaviors.

MADD consistently leverages fact-based data to guide our mission and focus. And this time is no different. We are reaching out to our partners to figure out ways of tackling inequities in traffic safety while also working together to bring down the number of impaired driving crashes, which are, unfortunately, on the rise.

To get there we must advocate and engage in the prevention of impaired driving deaths and injuries on our roads. Together we can identify and promote actionable, data-driven solutions to ensure fair, equitable and consistent enforcement of traffic safety laws.

MADD has spent more than 40 years fighting for changes that will make our roads safer for everyone, and MADD will continue with this urgent mission.

Q: What do you mean when you reference traffic stops for administrative and equipment violations that are not shown to effectively prevent hazardous driving behaviors?

A:  Research shows that traffic stops focused on administrative and equipment violations such as a defective tail light or expired registration disproportionately affect communities of color. For example, Black drivers are 1.5 times more likely to be stopped and three times more likely to be searched than White drivers, largely due to stops for administrative and equipment violations. According to multiple studies the disparities in traffic stops are reduced when enforcement is focused on hazardous driving behaviors, such as speeding, aggressive driving, failure to maintain a single lane, and failure to obey traffic control signals/device – indicators of impaired driving and increased crash risk.

Q:  Is MADD no longer focused on preventing drunk driving fatalities?

A:  MADD’s mission is and has always been to end impaired driving for good, and we will never stop fighting for that goal until there are no more victims. The recent studies referenced in our statement highlight an unprecedented increase in drunk driving fatalities, along with racial disparities in traffic stops, and we recognize the need to address both issues. MADD, working together with our partners, is focused on how we support the optimal use of finite traffic safety resources to reduce hazardous driving in ways that also reduce disparities in traffic stops in communities of color.

Q:  Why is MADD the right organization to join in on the conversation surrounding equitable traffic safety enforcement?

A:  As an advocacy-based organization and strategic collaborator, MADD uses fact-based data to guide our mission and focus for safer roads. While MADD does not see ourselves leading this work, we welcome this opportunity to serve as a strategic partner in the efforts to make traffic stops more equitable and prioritize high-visibility traffic safety enforcement, which will reduce deaths and injuries caused by impaired driving.

MADD has already been doing some of this work. In February 2021, a volunteer representing MADD, Michelle Ramsey Hawkins, testified at a Congressional hearing, “Examining Equity in Transportation Safety Enforcement,” about the need for fair and just traffic safety enforcement. In addition, MADD is engaged with law enforcement through regional Law Enforcement Summits that include training related to issues of equity in enforcement.

MADD has decades of experience working alongside victims, survivors, law enforcement, legislators, and other safety partners, to enact real change to reduce impaired driving fatalities and injuries. Our public campaigns and advocacy efforts led to new laws locally and nationally that dramatically reduced the number of drunk driving fatalities and injuries. Now we need to look at the new studies that show an increase in drunk driving, and significant racial disparities on our roads. 

Q:  Is MADD critiquing law enforcement?

A:  Not at all. We want to continue to partner with law enforcement to use data-driven solutions to mutually determine best practices that will better utilize finite traffic safety resources in ways that both reduce impaired driving without causing any undue harm to any community. We are aware of some successful models that law enforcement is currently utilizing that are achieving both results. A potential role MADD may play in the future is to work with others in the analysis of traffic safety data and share best practices with our law enforcement partners that will reduce impaired driving crashes as well as reduce the high rate of disparities of traffic stops.

Q:  Will MADD continue its close work with law enforcement?

A:  Of course. MADD has always worked closely with law enforcement agencies across the country, and we will continue to do so. Meetings with representatives of national law enforcement organizations have already taken place to lay the groundwork for our work together on this important issue.

Q:  Are you working other partners on this initiative?

A:  MADD is engaging with new and existing stakeholders in traffic safety and civic organizations, law enforcement, legislators, and victims and survivors.

Q:  If I have questions concerning MADD’s statement, who should I contact?

A:  All questions can be directed to [email protected]. Our team will respond to all inquiries.

[1]  Emma Pierson et al., “A large-scale analysis of racial disparities in police stops across the United States,” Nature Human Behavior 4 (2020): 736-745 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-0858-1

[2]  Baumgartner, F. R., Epp, D. A., & Shoub, K. (2018). Suspect citizens: What 20 million traffic stops tell us about policing and race. Cambridge University Press, pp. 69–77.

[3] Testing for Disparities in Traffic Stops:  Best Practices from the Connecticut Model (2020) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1745-9133.12528

[4]  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Overview of Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes in 2021 (April 2023) https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813435
[5] Testing for Disparities in Traffic Stops:  Best Practices from the Connecticut Model (2020) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1745-9133.12528