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Q&A
Discussion on Philadelphia's Driving Equality law and its impact on traffic stops
2:21:20
·
4 min
Council Member Tiffany Cabán engages in a Q&A session with Pennsylvania State Representative Andre D. Carroll about Philadelphia's Driving Equality law. They discuss the law's implementation, its effects on reducing anxiety during traffic stops, and the process of determining which traffic violations to include in the legislation.
- Carroll shares personal experiences and the positive impact of the law on reducing targeted traffic stops
- They discuss specific changes in enforcement, such as late registration and expired inspection stickers
- Cabán highlights the importance of safety statistics in determining which infractions to include in the bill
Tiffany Cabán
2:21:20
Hi, senator.
2:21:21
I I just first, I wanna thank you for being here.
2:21:24
I have from afar, I'm an admirer of the work that you're doing out there in Pennsylvania, and, obviously, I'm a huge fan of of council member Isaiah Thomas, who really championed the driving equality plan.
2:21:37
And so you talked about your personal experiences, obviously bear out the data you then see in your city.
2:21:44
And there are similarities here in terms of the disproportionate number of stops, searches, seizures, arrests.
2:21:53
And can you talk a little bit about like when the law went into effect and sort of some of the effects you've seen from removing police from certain parts of traffic enforcement?
Andre D. Carroll
2:22:07
Yeah.
2:22:08
Absolutely.
2:22:08
So the law was enacted and passed it was passed in September 2022, and it became law in February.
2:22:20
So it's it's been a few years now.
2:22:23
The thing that I'll I'll share is that in my personal interactions with the police is that, you know, I've had a taillight or I've had a headlight that's been out since this law have been in effect, and it has taken down the anxiety that you will get pulled over because, that exists.
2:22:38
Also, yeah, I just do wanna mention just some of the things that it does change as, as violations that can be enforced on a traffic stop.
2:22:48
So late registration.
2:22:50
So, you know, before this law, if your registration was expired today, they could just pull you over for that.
2:22:56
But the card has been registered to somebody's name, but maybe the person hasn't had a chance to get the card registered.
2:23:02
So that's another one of the things that I thought, you know, was was helpful to give, you know, working class folks an opportunity to correct, some things.
2:23:10
Also, another thing that I'll mention is if the inspection or a mission sticker on the front of the car is expired, you know, it gives them some time to be able to get that, course correct as well.
2:23:22
So those are just a few of the things that has removed police from being able to use that as a reason to pull folks over, which also to have, in my opinion, saved the city money because now we don't have police officers conducting traffic stops for things that don't yield and return things that make our community see any safer safer.
Tiffany Cabán
2:23:44
Right.
2:23:45
And and my understanding is that before the the the legislation was introduced and then obviously subsequently passed, there were long term studies on which traffic infractions to include in the bill and not include.
2:24:00
And those were rooted in safety statistics, so which infractions led to more dangerous traffic outcomes, for example.
2:24:11
So took the ones that didn't have an impact on safety and then just removed the ability of the police to be able to make the stop for that thing, understanding that what we're seeing is that after the stop, there's this real disparity between how black and brown drivers are being treated.
Andre D. Carroll
2:24:29
Absolutely, councilwoman.
2:24:31
There was a a lengthy amount of time that there was a conversation.
2:24:35
To my understanding, there was at least a year, that included the Philadelphia Public Defenders Association, Philadelphia Police Department, and also, councilman Isaiah Thomas' team to talk through, this bill.
2:24:48
So, yes, there was a lot of things that was taken out of the bill and and not considered in the final passage.
2:24:55
And one of the the biggest misconceptions in Philadelphia is that tenant windows was included in this bill, and that is something that, you know, one could argue would impede on public safety because it may impair the driver from being able to see through through the window.
2:25:08
So that is not included in this bill, but but the eight violations that are included in the bill were things that were agreed upon on all on for all three folks sitting at the table that would not impede on public safety.
Tiffany Cabán
2:25:20
Awesome.
2:25:21
Thank you so much.
2:25:21
Super thoughtful.
2:25:22
I love having folks from other cities, jurisdictions come in and and tell us how they're doing their thing.
2:25:28
So thank you.