Dem Rep. Blumenauer: Lack of Interest in Enforcing Traffic Laws Due to Equality Concerns Is Causing Unequal ‘Carnage’

On Thursday’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) said that “there’s been less interest in enforcing traffic safety” laws “because of concerns about unequal application.” And “we’ve seen carnage on the roadways, and they primarily are children, older people, people of color, in poor neighborhoods. It’s grotesquely inequitable, and it is, in fact, an epidemic.”

Co-host Juana Summers asked, [relevant exchange begins around 5:35] “I want to shift gears a little bit here and ask you about the record pedestrian deaths in the U.S. They were at a 40-year high last year. That’s according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. And, just to be specific, almost 20 pedestrians killed each day by moving vehicles. What do you think can be done to reduce that number?”

Blumenauer answered, “Well, it needs to have a higher priority from your federal government, and it needs basically an all-hands-on-deck [approach]. We’re seeing people running red lights, speeding. We’ve had horrific examples here in metropolitan Washington. There’s an overall challenge these days. And part of it, I think, is the aftermath of the pandemic and people being cranky, stresses on law enforcement, where there’s been less interest in enforcing traffic safety because of concerns about unequal application. But we’ve seen carnage on the roadways, and they primarily are children, older people, people of color, in poor neighborhoods. It’s grotesquely inequitable, and it is, in fact, an epidemic.”

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