Right-Sizing the Role of Traffic Enforcement: Prioritizing Effective, Cost-Efficient and Equitable Improvements to Road Safety

Communities are simultaneously grappling with significant increases in the number of people killed and injured in traffic crashes and reductions in police staffing levels. This report by the Vision Zero Network and Policing Project highlights the need to evaluate and right-size the role of traffic enforcement to best meet public safety needs during this road safety crisis. The authors offer recommendations based on a Safe System approach that focuses on designing and operating systems that make safe behaviors the easiest option. The report suggests that this more equitable, less punitive approach provides longer lasting safety benefits that cost less over time, and allows police to focus limited resources on prioritizing safety stops over non-safety stops, such as low-level administrative and equipment violations. 

You can read the full text of the report  here.