Blue lights flash in your rearview mirror.
You catch your breath. Your heart rate increases. Your stomach tightens.
If you spend a lot of time driving, you're probably familiar with the flood of stress and fear that washes over you when the police pull you over.
In Alexandria, the most common reasons for getting pulled over are not surprising — speeding, failure to follow signs and distracted driving.
This spring, the Alexandria Police Department (APD) released the annual Basic Analysis of Traffic Citation Data for 2019, which analyzes the reasons drivers receive citations or warnings, their demographic information and what days and times they are usually stopped.
The APD prepares the study with data from the department’s in-house crime analyst and the Virginia Department of Transportation.
In both 2018 and 2019, the top 3 traffic violations were:
- failure to follow official signs,
- failure to give full time and attention
- speeding in a 25 mile per hour zone as determined by use of radar.
Failure to follow official signs and speeding in a 25 mile per hour zone have been consistently among the top three traffic violations since 2011.
Failure to pay time and attention has increased significantly in the past 3 years, as laws against the use of handheld devices have become more restrictive and more people are using mobile devices to text message, get directions or make phone calls while driving.
Demographics: Age, Gender and Race in Traffic Data
Similar to 2018 numbers, most drivers who received traffic citations in 2019 were ages 30-39 followed closely by drivers between 21-29 years old. More than 57 percent of individuals who received citations presented as male.
According to the report, 57.13 percent of individuals who received traffic citations were white, 36.74 percent were Black, 3.16 percent were Asian and the rest were other or unknown. These percentages have remained relatively consistent over the past 9 years that data is available in the traffic report. However, this information was based on the assessment of officers, not on individuals self-identifying their race. Ethnic information which would break down Hispanic and non-Hispanic individuals is unreliable because it is not required on citation forms or driver’s licenses in the region.
For comparison purposes, current Alexandria demographics are 52 percent white, 22 percent Black, 17 percent Hispanic/Latino, 6.2 percent Asian, 0.4 percent Native American, 0.1 percent Pacific Islander, and 3.7 percent identifying as two or more races.
Late for Work or Late at Night
The vast majority of traffic stops — 80 percent — occur on weekdays, with Tuesday and Wednesday being the most common days.
Most traffic stops occur during rush hours, especially the morning, with 8 a.m. – 8:59 a.m. being the hour with most traffic citations given in 2019. This is consistent with information from 2011-2012 and 2014-2016. In 2017 and 2018 the peak hour was 4 p.m. - 4:59 p.m.
For weekends the peak hour in 2019 was 9 a.m. – 9:59 a.m. with a slight uptick between 9 p.m. – 1 a.m. This is a significant departure from 2011-2017 data which saw the majority of citations issued during the nighttime hours.
According to the APD, Traffic Safety Officers work during daylight hours which explains why more traffic stops occur during the day, particularly during rush hours.
The report also presents information on traffic warnings. The top 3 traffic warnings given are failure to obey highway signs, failure to obey official signs and no registration in possession. Most of the data on age, gender, race and ethnicity was similar to that for traffic citations. The only difference was that warnings tend to be given later in the day between 4 p.m. – 5:59 p.m. and 8 p.m. – 12:59 a.m.
Information on the state of residence of individuals stopped is collected on the Virginia Uniform Summons issued by officers, but it was not analyzed as part of this study or available in the report.
