Black drivers in Florida get twice as many seat belt tickets

Guardian - Black drivers in Florida are stopped and ticketed for not wearing a seatbelt significantly more often than their white counterparts, raising “serious concern” that law enforcement may be racially profiling motorists, according to a study released by the American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday.

Using data collected under Florida’s seatbelt law, the authors found that in 2014 black motorists were ticketed nearly twice as often statewide and up to four times as often in certain counties.

“This report brings forth new evidence suggesting that racial profiling in traffic enforcement is real,” said Nusrat Choudhury, an attorney with the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program and co-author of the report, Racial Disparities in Florida Safety Belt Law Enforcement.