Can a racial justice frame help overcome opposition to automated traffic enforcement?

Perceptions of Surveillance: Exploring Feelings Held by Black Community Leaders in Boston Toward Camera Enforcement of Roadway Infractions

“…There is a considerable amount of alignment on findings related to the benefits that camera enforcement has over inperson enforcement. Much of the public agree that CE host the potential for increased capacity and consistency of enforcement (Fox, 2020;Ralph et al, 2022a), and is effective at decreasing roadway injuries and fatalities (Cicchino et al, 2014;Hu et al, 2011;Turner & Polk, 1998).…”

“…While multiple studies have explored how traffic cameras perform with respect to racial profilingconsistently finding that cameras exhibit far less racial bias in administering tickets than police officers do (Eger et al, 2015;Quintanar, 2017) only one study, to my knowledge and at time of writing, specifically weds the subjects of roadway CE, race, and public opinion. Via survey, the team of Ralph et al (2022a) ask what effect can be expected from applying a racial justice framing to pro-camera enforcement campaigning. What is meant by 'racial justice framing' in this work is a shift in advocacy technique from a focus on race-blind safety to one that explores "the role cameras could play in reducing racial-profiling."…”

“…As of January 2022, that number dropped by 37 % totaling just 338 municipalities (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety & Highway Loss Data Institute, 2022). While this decrease in application has been attributed, in part, to difficulty of program management and several cases of fraud (Albanese, 2018;Morain et al, 2016), by far the dominant opposing force to the expansion of CE programs has been negative public opinion (Turner & Polk, 1998;Ralph et al, 2022a). The perceived strength of public disapproval has even motivated legislators in some states to go so far as to ban camera use for roadway enforcement entirely (Morain et al, 2016;Short, 2019).…”