Speed Safety Camera Locations and Equity

According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) 2023 Speed Safety Camera Program Planning and Operations Guide, beyond crash and speed data, demographic data should be used to evaluate any disproportionate effects of citations and fines on Black, Latino, and low-income communities (FHWA, 2023). The use of speed safety cameras (SSCs) can help to address equity concerns, however they can also unintentionally produce inequity by disproportionately penalizing those of a specific race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status (SES), simply due to the SSC placement. The current project aims to examine the effect of SSC placement on SSC violations, looking at driver demographic data. To answer the research question, the project will utilize retrospective administrative data about drivers’ SSC violations (i.e., speeding) from localities with differing driver demographics (i.e., race, ethnicity, and SES). The results will provide a better understanding as to how SSC placement or density in specific localities can contribute to any disproportionate effects of citations and fines on Black, Latino, and low-income communities (low SES), further supporting the need for equitable enforcement of speed limits, regardless of, race, ethnicity, or socio-economic status (SES). Further, it will provide an opportunity to answer exploratory questions, gaining insight into other aspects and differences of SSCs by locality, regarding other demographics (age and gender), SSC site selection, and SSC type (overt, covert, fixed, mobile, speed-over-distance)/extent (number or distribution of sites) justification. Given the importance of this increasingly used countermeasure to reduce speeding behavior, the findings of this study will be useful for the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), localities with existing SSC programs and those interested in implementing SSCs, law enforcement, lawmakers, and other traffic safety stakeholders.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $250000
• Contract Numbers:

  693JJ924RQ000314/693JJ924F00177N

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, D.C.  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, D.C.  United States  20590
• Performing Organizations:

  2M Research Services LLC

  Arlington, Tx   
• Principal Investigators:

  Hamel, Rachel

• Start Date: 20240930
• Expected Completion Date: 20260930
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: Behavioral Safety Research
• Subprogram: Speeding

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Demographics; Fines (Penalties); Location; Low income groups; Minorities; Speed control; Traffic surveillance; Transportation equity
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01938651
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Contract Numbers: 693JJ924RQ000314/693JJ924F00177N
• Files: RIP, USDOT
• Created Date: Dec 3 2024 2:34PM