Do you think we must rethink how we enforce traffic laws in cities and suburbs? Do traffic stops accomplish their task of deterring unsafe driving?

It would be effective to rethink how traffic laws should be enforced in the cities and suburbs because present efforts are not effects for protecting pedestrians and drivers. In addition, current traffic laws increase traffic and often, frustration. As the New York Times article mentions, Black drivers are more likely to get pulled over than White drivers, which means that the use of traffic stops to administer justice is an unfair process. There should be an improved focus on equity and protection for the whole community. If there is risk of the police action causing any harm and if not taking action will not cause significant harm, it would be better for the police to not act.

Do you believe banning traffic stops like in Philadephia, Los Angeles, Seattle, etc, will bring positive changes to the justice system and the affected communities? Write your thoughts on this question.

The ramifications of banning traffic stops are unknown and seems risky as a result, but it is worth a try. The current approach of traffic stops slows down traffic, causes people to learn where the stops are and avert them, and results in members of minority groups disproportionately held responsible for some type of crime in a manner that is reminiscent of stop and frisk. I think that the fact that Los Angeles has banned traffic stops is a good idea for this particular city because the police force likely spent a lot of human and financial resources on these efforts when they might be better spent performing other tasks to help the community. Given the presence of cultural differences between the cities that might implement the traffic stop bans, it is possible that the bans will be effective in some states and not others. It would be necessary for each state to launch a related program to determine if this approach could be a success, starting first at the local level. For example, bans could be tried in Albany, NY before New York, NY, which has a much denser population.