Is There Racial Bias in the Enforcement of Primary Seat Belt Laws? Evidence from Veil of Darkness Tests
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Ben Brewer
Abstract
State mandatory seat belt laws have become stricter over time, allowing for a vehicle to be stopped solely for a suspected seat belt infraction. While effective in reducing traffic fatalities, this additional discretion may also come with the possibility of increased racial targeting. Using individual-level traffic stop data, I combine recent advances in the Veil-of-Darkness test with a difference-in-difference identification strategy to estimate whether primary seat belt laws are associated with changes in the racial composition of seat belt stops. Results indicate that under primary seat belt enforcement, a black individual is 1.138–1.222 times more likely than a white individual to be stopped for a seat belt violation under the good visibility of daylight compared to the poor visibility of darkness. These additional stops end mostly in warnings, suggesting the law is used to increase the number of pretextual stops made, specifically on black drivers.
Acknowledgements
I thank seminar participants at Bryant University, the University of Hartford, the Southern Economic Association Annual Conference and the Western Economic Association Annual Conference for their comments and suggestions. Any errors are my own.
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
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- Bridging the Gap: The Role of the Charity in Voluntary Public Good Provision
- Food Consumption in Argentina: The Deaton-Paxson Puzzle Beyond Mean Effects
- Unpacking the Financial Incentives in Health by Revisiting India’s “Safe Motherhood Program”
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- Public Subsidies and Cooperation in Research and Development. Evidence from the LAB
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- Is There Racial Bias in the Enforcement of Primary Seat Belt Laws? Evidence from Veil of Darkness Tests
- Recovery from the COVID-19 Recession: Uneven Effects among Young Workers?
- Unions and Automation Risk: Who Bears the Cost of Automation?
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Bridging the Gap: The Role of the Charity in Voluntary Public Good Provision
- Food Consumption in Argentina: The Deaton-Paxson Puzzle Beyond Mean Effects
- Unpacking the Financial Incentives in Health by Revisiting India’s “Safe Motherhood Program”
- Occupational Licensing and Skills Mismatches Among Immigrants and Natives in the United States
- On the Social Desirability of Centralized Wage Setting when Firms are Run by Biased Managers
- Public Subsidies and Cooperation in Research and Development. Evidence from the LAB
- Don’t Stop Me Now: Cross-Border Commuting in the Aftermath of Schengen
- Letters
- Is There Racial Bias in the Enforcement of Primary Seat Belt Laws? Evidence from Veil of Darkness Tests
- Recovery from the COVID-19 Recession: Uneven Effects among Young Workers?
- Unions and Automation Risk: Who Bears the Cost of Automation?
- Determining the Drivers of Housing Market Seasonality
- Nudging Pro-social Behavior in a Market Experiment with Carbon Offsets
