New CT Bill Would Ban Traffic Stops For Low Level Offenses [SURVEY]

CONNECTICUT — Motorists who get caught driving over the speed limit, through a stop sign or too close to the car in front of them can expect to be stopped by law enforcement. These "primary traffic offenses" are exactly the types of behavior that safety-conscious societies pass laws to discourage, Connecticut included.

It's when they are pulled over for those "secondary traffic offenses" — the tinted windows, seatbelt violations, broken head lamps, expired registrations, among others — that many drivers push back and cry "foul."

Recently, the state legislature’s Judiciary Committee considered a bill that would do away with most of the low level stops. The groundwork for the bill was laid by The Police Transparency & Accountability Task Force, which concluded from the three years of data it examined that Black drivers are almost twice as likely to be stopped for equipment violations as white drivers.

The proposed law gets some of its steam from a 2019 incident in Wethersfield where police stopped a driver whose windows were heavily tinted. One of the officers exited his cruiser and the vehicle drove toward the officer, State Police said. The officer then fired his weapon, shooting and killing the 18-year-old driver. The officer was cleared by prosecutors of any wrongdoing in March 2020.

The new law as currently proposed wouldn't do away with secondary traffic offenses, of course, just prevent law enforcement agents from pulling drivers over for them. It would "not prohibit enforcement of a secondary violation by automated enforcement or by a mailed notice of violation." The robots could still tag you and mail you a ticket, but the human police would not be allowed to stop you in media res.

In a written testimony submitted to the committee, the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association said its members are concerned the proposed legislation "will make our roads less safe." The chiefs pointed out that "motor vehicle equipment violations were written into statute because the General Assembly believed that they were important to traffic safety." If the violations are not impactful to traffic safety, the chiefs argue, strike them from the list of legal infractions, "making the enforcement of them no longer an issue."

What do Patch readers think? Should Connecticut state lawmakers prohibit police from stopping motorists in violation of secondary traffic offenses? Let us know your opinion in the survey below: