Philadelphia Has Banned “Low Level” Traffic Stops

Residents of Philadelphia, PA will have less traffic stops from here on out. Mayor Jim Kenney issued an executive order called called the Driving Equality Bill which would ban officers from pulling over cars for secondary offenses such as having a brake light out or expired registration tags. This makes Philadelphia the largest city government in the U.S. to ban secondary violations.

While some people argue traffic stops for small issues like that can uncover illegal drugs or drivers with a warrant but others say it’s a waste of police resources and the stops have led to minority motorists being unfairly stopped, searched and detained.

With the executive order, drivers won’t skip being punished for these offenses just because they aren’t physically pulled over. Drivers caught with a broken taillight or expired registration will have their license plate run and receive a ticket in the mail. Under the order drivers will no longer be stopped for driving with a broken brake light or headlight a registration plate that’s not clearly displayed, driving without an inspection or emissions sticker, bumper issues, and driving without vehicle registration within 60 days of the observed infraction.

According to local news NBC10, the Defender Association of Philadelphia projected that the executive order could reduce police encounters with drivers by as many as 300,000 annually.