New Jersey civil rights group calls for traffic stop reform, citing racial disparities

ACLU-NJ urges lawmakers to modernize traffic code to increase public safety

The ACLU of New Jersey is calling on state lawmakers to overhaul the state’s traffic code, arguing that police stops for minor violations like cracked windshields and expired inspections have little bearing on road safety but carry an outsized burden for Black and Hispanic drivers.

The ACLU of New Jersey released a report Tuesday urging the Legislature to restrict so-called non-safety traffic stops for technical infractions that the group says are statistically insignificant contributors to fatal crashes but routinely used as a pretext to investigate drivers for more serious offenses.

“New Jersey should leverage every tool at its disposal to protect its communities, and that includes promoting public safety by addressing dangerous driving,” said Lauren Aung, policy fellow at the ACLU-NJ. “Research has shown that if lawmakers modernize the traffic code and focus law enforcement resources on preventing accidents, lives are saved and racial disparities in traffic stop enforcement improve.”

The report, “New Jersey’s Road to Safety and Racial Justice: Reducing Non-Safety Traffic Stops,” draws on an analysis of more than six million state police traffic stops between January 2009 and May 2021 and makes specific recommendations for legislative action.

Lopsided numbers

Black drivers accounted for 18.8% of all stops during that period despite making up 8.2% of New Jersey drivers. They comprised 36.5% of all searches.

The disparity deepens for non-safety violations. For stops involving windshield obstruction and window tinting, Black drivers accounted for 28.1% of stops and 49.3% of searches, yet were less likely than white drivers to be found with contraband. The report describes the gap between how often drivers are searched and how often evidence is actually found as the “hit-to-search ratio.” For windshield violations, that figure was 0.26 for Black drivers compared to 0.29 for white drivers.

A separate 2023 report commissioned by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General found that during daylight hours, when officers can more clearly see drivers, Black motorists were 9.3% more likely to be stopped than at night. Hispanic drivers were 16.1% more likely to be stopped. Black drivers were also 89.9% more likely to be searched than white drivers, but 9.7% less likely to be found with contraband.

The findings echo patterns documented elsewhere. In January, the state attorney general filed suit against Clark Township, alleging that police leadership had instructed officers to “keep Black people out of the Township” by targeting them with stops for minor violations. The lawsuit found that the practice created an environment so hostile that non-white residents avoided driving through the township altogether.

Roads and resources

Beyond racial equity concerns, the ACLU-NJ argues that non-safety stops are a poor use of police time.

Out of 11,750 vehicles involved in fatal crashes in New Jersey from 2010 to 2023, only 45 — less than half of 1% — had issues with lights, windows, mirrors, or windshields. By contrast, 22.8% of fatal crashes involved speeding, and 23.3% involved a distracted driver.

Contraband arrests from traffic stops are similarly rare. State police found contraband in just 0.76% of stops over the 12-year study period.

Pretextual stops and public trust

The report argues that non-safety violations are frequently used as a cover for pretextual stops — instances where officers use a minor infraction as justification to initiate contact in hopes of uncovering something more serious. The practice, the ACLU-NJ says, corrodes community trust and poses constitutional concerns about unreasonable searches and seizures.

“In a constitutional democracy, law enforcement should not be able to conduct arbitrary stops,” said Emily Reina Dindial, senior policy counsel with ACLU’s Justice Division. “Right now, it is too easy for police to stop cars in New Jersey and circumvent constitutional protections by using minor, non-safety offenses as justification for a stop with an ulterior motive.”

A 2024 Department of Justice report on the Trenton Police Department documented multiple instances of inappropriate and forceful officer behavior during traffic stops. Trenton residents told DOJ investigators they were less likely to report crime because of those interactions. Research also shows that given the same reason for a stop, Black drivers are 30% more likely to experience force than white drivers. From 2013 to 2025, Black people in New Jersey were 7.4 times more likely to be killed by police than white people, according to Mapping Police Violence.

What reform looks like

The ACLU-NJ is not calling for an end to all non-safety enforcement. The group recommends that lawmakers amend the traffic code to require that a non-safety violation present an “immediate threat to road safety” before officers can initiate a stop, meaning at least one person’s physical safety must be at imminent risk.

Under that standard, an air freshener hanging from a rearview mirror would no longer justify a stop. A windshield so obstructed that a driver couldn’t safely see the road still would.

For administrative violations such as expired inspections and expired registrations, the group recommends a 90-day grace period during which stops would not be permitted. It also recommends repealing several violations outright, including defective horn, noisy muffler, and failure to display a front license plate.

Evidence from other jurisdictions suggests reform can work. After Fayetteville, N.C., reduced non-safety stops and refocused on dangerous driving, researchers estimated the shift contributed to 765 fewer crashes and 19 fewer fatalities annually — along with fewer assaults on officers. Philadelphia saw a 35.6% increase in stops for running red lights and stop signs after reform, and recovered more guns from fewer total stops. Newington, Conn., reported a 250% increase in DUI arrests after redirecting resources toward identifying intoxicated drivers, with racial disparities also declining.

Public opinion in New Jersey appears to support a shift. A February 2025 poll from YouGov and ACLU National found 81% of state residents across liberal, moderate, and conservative respondents wanted police to prioritize stops for offenses like drunk driving or speeding, even if smaller infractions occasionally went unaddressed.

The report calls on the New Jersey Legislature to pass legislation reflecting that priority. Without action, the ACLU argues, the state will continue to divert law enforcement resources toward stops that do little to prevent crashes while driving distrust between police and the communities they serve.