Study Shows Blacks In Illinois More likely To Get Traffic Ticket

Minority drivers in Illinois were pulled over at a disproportionately high rate last year, according to government data released this week, and they were more likely to get a ticket and have their car searched.

An analysis by the Illinois Department of Transportation found that minorities made up 28.5 percent of the driving population but accounted for 31.8 percent of traffic stops in 2005.

The State Of . . . Driving While Black is still alive and well. The study even looked at what happened after people were stopped regardless of color. 68.7% of blacks got tickets while 59.5% of whites were ticketed. Should the stats be equal? Should blacks be pulled over and ticketed in proportion with their population makeup? That’s the trouble with statistics. What is the right number?