Racial Bias in U.S. Traffic Policing

U.S. police issue traffic fines to racial or ethnic minority drivers more often than to white drivers. However, this does not necessarily mean that police officers are racist, as the disparity could also result from actual differences in driving speeds between demographic groups.

To investigate this issue, Pradhi Aggarwal and his colleagues objectively analyzed drivers' locations, speeds, and speed limits but found no significant differences in speeding behavior or traffic violations. Moreover, they discovered that when both white and minority drivers drove at identical speeds, police were still 33% more likely to issue speeding citations to minority drivers and imposed fines that were 34% higher.

In other words, U.S. police are not neutral regarding the country’s racial and ethnic groups but treat minorities more harshly than white drivers. Naturally, this is an issue that American law enforcement should address as soon as possible.

However, the researchers also noted that their study participants were not a random sample of the entire population but rather better-trained drivers working for a specific rideshare service. Thus, the possibility remains that minority drivers might, on average, follow traffic laws less strictly than white drivers, which could lead police to have a more negative attitude toward them.

This, in turn, might explain why minorities are more easily stopped and fined more harshly. However, this explanation remains—at least for now—pure speculation. Therefore, at this stage, scientific evidence supports the conclusion that traffic law enforcement exhibits racial bias. And this conclusion will not change unless further research specifically addresses the question.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Attitudes towards immigrants are not becoming more positive in Western countries
Racism or self-preservation instinct?
People with Middle Eastern and North African inheritance identify themselves as non-Whites