Many of us have witnessed or experienced a traffic stop. Every year in the U.S., over 1 million drivers are arrested during traffic stops. Over 40 states use traffic stops as a key part of targeted crime investigations, with 1 in 10 traffic stops involving the use of force.
This study will consider the data behind how traffic stops are used and who is disproportionately targeted during traffic stops. We’ll also consider which states have the most traffic stops, which feature the deadliest traffic stops, and how state speeding charges vary.
First, let’s consider some key traffic stop statistics.
Traffic Stops in the U.S.
In the U.S., police carry out around 32 million traffic stops every year, with over 80% due to things like speeding, reckless driving, and equipment violations.
Around 60% of traffic stops result in a citation. As mentioned, more than 1 million drivers are arrested every year during a traffic stop. Other key statistics include the following.
- 50% of drivers stopped are intimidated by the experience.
- Around 25% of traffic stops involve a search that doesn’t lead to an arrest.
- Black drivers are 1.5 times more likely, and Latino drivers are 1.4 times more likely, to be the subject of a traffic stop than White drivers.
- 11% of stops involve Black drivers; 3% involve White drivers.
- 20% of traffic stops involve women.
- If an officer is wearing a body camera during a traffic stop, this reduces complaints by around 50%.
- The recidivism rate among drivers cited or stopped for a traffic violation is around 20% within a year.
On a more serious note, traffic stops can result in death. Despite a national decline in homicides and violent crime, law enforcement violence is currently the worst in recorded history.
Law Enforcement Violence and Traffic Stop Deaths
Our research tells us that, in 2024, members of U.S. law enforcement killed 1,365 people, the worst law enforcement numbers on record, with one fatal police incident every 6.44 hours (and only ten days in 2024 when law enforcement didn’t kill someone). So far in 2025, law enforcement officers have killed 848 people.
Additional death statistics we discovered highlight key, alarming racial disparities.
- Black people are 2.9 times more likely to be killed than White people.
- Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders are 7.6 times more likely to be killed than White people.
- For American Indian/Alaska Native people, the risk of being killed is 3.1 times higher than it is for White people.
- For Hispanic people, the risk of being killed is 1.3 times higher.
These shocking figures underscore significant disparities regarding the use of violence against different races and ethnicities. And if we narrow our focus to traffic stops, the disparities are similarly pronounced.
Traffic Stop Death Figures: A Study
After closely analyzing police traffic stop data taken from 2019 to 2025, we made some stark discoveries. The data in question regards police traffic stops that resulted in the deaths of the people apprehended. We tracked 364 incidents where the initial assessment of the traffic stop was that the eventual victims were non-violent and did not present a serious threat.
Regarding these incidents, all of which escalated to become a traffic stop killing: most victims were between the ages of 18 and 35. If we were to combine statistics to produce an average representative victim, the result would be a 28-year-old black male from California or Texas (the two worst states for U.S. police killings).
And it’s important to emphasize the fact that these are traffic stop killings: in other words, rapidly escalated extreme violence carried out during what should have been routine stops.
Here’s a rundown of the essential traffic stop death statistics taken from our study of the 364 law enforcement killings.
The deadliest states by a significant margin were Texas and California. Here are the states that featured the most traffic stop killings during the period in question.
And the least dangerous states of those studied were as follows.
2022 was the year that saw the highest number of traffic stop deaths, with over 100 fatal encounters; 2020 was by far the least eventful, with just 5 recorded fatalities. A quick look at demographic disparities emphasizes some of the biases highlighted earlier in this study.
Demographic Disparities
Our study data tells us that Black Americans are massively over-represented when it comes to traffic stop deaths. Based on our findings, they comprise 38% of victims, yet only make up around 13% of the U.S. population.
Similarly, Hispanic drivers accounted for 28% of traffic stop fatalities, despite representing only 19% of the national population. And 97% of victims are males, despite representing only 80% of traffic stop numbers.
While these disparities in fatal outcomes demand urgent attention, it’s important to recognize that the vast majority of traffic stops do not end in violence. Instead, they often result in citations, most commonly for speeding.
Though far less severe, the financial impact of these tickets varies widely across states and can disproportionately affect lower-income drivers. Understanding how states profit from these fines offers another lens into the broader traffic enforcement landscape.
Speeding Tickets: State By State
California carries the highest minimum speeding ticket fine in the U.S. ($234), followed closely by Arizona ($231), Nevada ($223), and Texas ($223). At the other end of the cost scale, New Mexico and Nebraska carry the lowest minimum fines at just $25, with Montana and North Dakota also charging low fine fees ($40).
The U.S. national average charge for exceeding the speed limit by 10 mph is $130, while the median value runs slightly lower ($121).
Whereas, the average U.S. cost for going 40 mph over the speed limit is a $362 ticket: nearly triple the cost of going 10 mph over the limit. In some states, driving 40 mph over the speed limit could potentially cost a driver thousands of dollars.
For example, Illinois features by far the country’s highest speeding ticket charge for driving 40 mph past the speed limit ($2,500), more than double the cost of second-placed New York ($1,150).
Here’s a full list of the ten states that feature the most expensive minimum speeding ticket costs for exceeding speed limits by 10 mph.
| State | |
|---|---|
| California | $234 |
| Arizona | $231 |
| Texas | $223 |
| Nevada | $223 |
| Florida | $204 |
| North Carolina | $203 |
| Arkansas | $192 |
| Mississippi | $186 |
| New York | $183 |
| Alabama | $178 |
And here are the ten states that make the most money from the highest speeding ticket costs.
| State | Most expensive fine (for passing speed limits by 40 mph) |
|---|---|
| Illinois | $2,500 |
| New York | $1,150 |
| Nevada | $620 |
| Utah | $570 |
| Maryland | $530 |
| California | $486 |
| Oregon | $440 |
| Wisconsin | $439 |
| New Hampshire | $434 |
| Georgia | $420 |
Fines are one thing: but in which U.S. states are you most likely to be hit with a speeding ticket? Here are the ten states that issue the most.
| State | |
|---|---|
| North Dakota | 8.7% |
| Wisconsin | 7.8% |
| Ohio | 7.8% |
| Iowa | 7.1% |
| Idaho | 7.1% |
| Wyoming | 6.8% |
| South Dakota | 6.7% |
| Virginia | 6.6% |
| Utah | 6.5% |
| Oregon | 6.4% |
Traffic Stops In The USA: A Disproportionate Targeting Problem
U.S. drivers are subject to around 32 million police traffic stops each year, with over 1 million of those resulting in an arrest and 1 in 10 involving force. Black drivers are stopped 1.5 times more than White drivers; for Hispanic drivers, the number is 1.4 times more. This is despite their smaller share of the driving population and clearly illustrates a key statistical disparity.
Based on data we carefully assessed from between 2019 and 2025, 364 supposedly routine traffic-stop encounters resulted in fatalities. Texas (37) and California (35) top the list of states that feature the most fatal traffic stops, while Idaho, Rhode Island, D.C., and Hawaii (1 each) feature the fewest.
ictims are overwhelmingly male (97%), with 60% aged between 18 and 35; peak fatality ages are 28 and 32 (20 and 17 deaths, respectively). Teens (16 to 19) suffered 27 deaths, while seniors (60+) accounted for just 9 deaths, 7 by gunshot, suggesting comparatively soft treatment for the oldest demographic.
Perhaps most significantly, Black Americans (38%) and Hispanic Americans (28%) account for a vastly disproportionate number of traffic-stop deaths: far exceeding their respective 13% and 19% shares of the U.S. population.
For Hispanic drivers in particular, the current ICE crackdown on immigrants can only exacerbate the existing disproportionate law enforcement fear-factor.
Black Americans are massively over-represented when it comes to traffic stop deaths
Additionally, over 80% of traffic stops are due to speeding and equipment violations, with ticket-cost burdens varying wildly across states. For example, California’s minimum fine for exceeding speed limits by 10 mph is $234; New Mexico’s fine for the same offense is $25.
25% of all traffic stops include a search, and in most cases, there’s no arrest, with at least half those stopped feeling needlessly intimidated by the process. Since traffic stops are the most frequent kind of interaction between the police and the general public, the statistics we’ve unearthed in this study carry broad and serious implications regarding abuses of authority, public safety, civil rights, and personal-injury/criminal-defense practice.
Ultimately, the data doesn’t lie. More scrutiny is needed to better understand and improve traffic stop procedures; more justification and explanation are needed regarding why so many drivers are stopped, and how a traffic stop can end with a fatality.
General law enforcement violence figures are at an all-time high, with specific demographics bearing the brunt of the rise. Until evident prejudicial traffic stop practices end, a disproportionate number of Black and Hispanic men will die following what should be a routine situation.
Universal traffic enforcement practices around fines and law enforcement measures to de-escalate confrontations – body cameras in all cases, additional surveillance, better training, better deterrents against overtly violent officers – are urgently needed.
Without consistent, non-aggressive, and carefully scrutinized traffic stop procedures, significant and often fatal injustices will continue to prevail.
At Suzuki Law, we encourage you to get in touch with our office as soon as possible to schedule a free consultation. You can speak with a Phoenix criminal defense lawyer from our team and receive an honest assessment as to whether or not we will be able to help.