One major US city has just become the first city to ban minor traffic stops.

The city of Philadelphia says that by banning minor traffic stops it will prevent racial discrimination.

CBS Local reported,

“I am grateful to my colleagues for voting to pass my Driving Equality bills, but more so, I am humbled by every person who told my office of the humiliation and trauma experienced in some of these traffic stops. To many people who look like me, a traffic stop is a rite of passage – we pick out cars, we determine routes, we plan our social interactions around the fact that it is likely that we will be pulled over by police. By removing the traffic stops that promote discrimination rather than public safety, City Council has made our streets safer and more equitable. With this vote, I breathe a sigh of relief that my sons and my friends’ children will grow up in a city where being pulled over is not a rite of passage but a measure of the safety of your driving and vehicle, regardless of the skin color of the driver.”

Now, let me just share my perspective on this.

I agree with not pursuing minor traffic violations such as busted headlights or a broken taillight, not wearing a seat belt, etc. Those are victimless crimes and no real crime has been committed. Sure the law may say that you must have this and that in order to drive a vehicle, but in reality, it shouldn’t be a crime that you can be fined or penalized for.

Now, that said, I think that they do become an issue when it leads to an accident. But then the question becomes, well how do you know that their busted taillight was really the fault of the accident and how can you prove that this was the case?

Well, I would say that with a measure such as this, you’ve got to adapt and people should start driving with dash cams. Because the assumption is that the police catch everyone or even the majority of people who have broken taillights, but there is no way to prove that. I see them all the time. I’ve driven with a headlight out for a while and never got pulled over for it either.

The sole reason why I agree with no minor traffic stops is because there is no victim. If there is no victim, there should be no crime.

All of that said, I do not agree that minor traffic stops are an act of racial discrimination. This is just ridiculous and an excuse.