In our recent webinar, we were joined by allies at the Policing Project at NYU Law and the ACLU to discuss ways to make traffic enforcement efforts more effective, cost-efficient, and equitable. Check out Vision Zero Network’s new report, Right-Sizing the Role of Traffic Enforcement, to find out more.
We discussed important but often overlooked questions in road safety work: what is the role of traffic enforcement and how are strategies used most appropriately? For example, U.S. jurisdictions are increasingly exploring reasons to limit non-safety traffic stops, such as low-level administrative and equipment violations that are not directly correlated to injury crashes. Among other benefits, this allows police to focus limited resources on genuine risks, including speeding and impaired and reckless driving. (Read more in the ACLU’s report, Safe Roads for All.)
(See 1-hour recording and slidedeck from our June 24, 2026 webinar about Right-sizing the Role of Traffic Enforcement)
Here are a few of our key takeaways from the discussion:
Not All Traffic Stops Are Created Equal
There is an important distinction between safety-focused traffic stops and non-safety stops. Safety stops target behaviors directly linked to serious and fatal crashes, including speeding, impaired driving, and reckless or dangerous driving. These violations impact safety outcomes and should be prioritized in both enforcement and non-enforcement efforts.
In contrast, non-safety stops target low-level equipment and administrative violations, such as a single broken taillight or an item hanging from a rearview mirror. These stops do not correlate to serious roadway dangers and, when used to look for evidence of a non-traffic safety violation, very rarely detect serious crimes. Low-level equipment and administrative infractions – stops that disproportionately affect black drivers – were a factor in just 0.2% of fatal crashes nationwide. Understanding this distinction between traffic stops that advance safety and traffic stops that don’t is the first step toward a more effective and equitable approach to traffic enforcement.
Right-sizing Traffic Enforcement Can Reduce Costs
Investing more in proactive, preventive safety measures, such as designing roads to be more self-enforcing and using in-vehicle technologies to curb dangerous driving, can be more effective for long-term behavior change and cost less than overrelying on enforcement. The cost to local communities for in-person traffic stops extends beyond officer salaries and benefits; it includes training, vehicle maintenance, insurance, and often-expensive lawsuits – as well as the costs of the broader criminal justice system, including courts, prosecutors, and jails. Yet, the effects of traditional enforcement can be fleeting.
Communities should consider the full lifetime costs and benefits of upstream infrastructure investments, such as road redesigns and traffic calming, that have lasting, around-the-clock safety impacts. Read about the City of Austin’s impressive cost savings resulting from traffic calming and road designs, leading to $78 million a year reduction in crash costs, including reduced medical expenses, emergency services, legal and administration costs and fewer congestion delays.
Road Safety Leaders Have a Role in Right-sizing Enforcement
Transportation practitioners and Vision Zero advocates have a real role to play in shaping traffic enforcement to be more effective, cost-efficient, and equitable. Advancing the Safe System approach, which Vision Zero is built on, offers a prime opportunity to assess whether traffic enforcement efforts are meeting their goals and, where needed, improve them. The efficacy and outcomes of enforcement strategies need to be regularly evaluated, just like those of other types of road safety strategies, such as road design and vehicle technology tools. We hope the new Right-sizing report helps spur helpful conversations and actions.
Starting Points for Action
So, how can you assess and, where needed, start to right-size the role of traffic enforcement in your community?
Share and start conversations
- Share the Right-Sizing and Safe Roads for All reports with your team and partners. If long reports aren’t their thing, you can also share this brief that distills the key takeaways into a quick, accessible format.
- Share the June 24th webinar recording and this video from Ramsey County featuring firsthand experiences with the county’s “lights out” voucher and the broader case for pulling back on non-safety stops.
- Host a brown bag discussion with peers and partners to discuss these ideas.
Learn about your community’s approach to enforcement & ask questions
- Does your police department have traffic stop data?
- Are traffic enforcement efforts tied to injury crash data?
- Are stop data published regularly and publicly?
Take big or small steps
- Explore equipment repair voucher programs as an alternative to equipment-related stops.
- Advocate for transparent reporting on traffic stops.
- Work toward a data-sharing agreement with police to make stop data publicly accessible.
- Consider a policy calling for evidence-based enforcement tied to crash data.
- Connect with peer cities already right-sizing enforcement to learn about their experiences.
Interested in delving deeper?
Join us for the second installment of the series: City Steps: Right-Sizing the Role of Traffic Enforcement (featuring Minneapolis & Oakland, CA) on August 18th at 1pm ET / 10am PT. We’ll feature practitioners from Minneapolis, MN and Oakland, CA sharing how their cities are assessing and evolving their approach to enforcement as part of an evidence-informed, Safe System approach.