The researchers then obtained data on all speeding tickets issued in Florida and identified those belonging to the Lyft driver.
The data clearly shows one thing. Lyft has incentives for drivers to avoid traffic violations and works. “Compared to the typical driver population, our sample is slower, especially above the limits, at over 10 mph,” the team wrote. “As a result, our analysis looks at only 1,423 citations for speeding.” It’s lower than expected, but more than enough to do some statistics on the frequency of these citations.
Animus
There are many confounding factors, such as gender, car manufacturer, and more that can affect whether someone is pulled and cited. Researchers handle this in two ways. In one analysis, the researchers themselves selected a set of factors to include in their analysis as potential confounding effects. Second, they relied on machine learning to determine the factors considered in the analysis. Both approaches yielded similar results.
The results clearly replicated a similar pattern to previous studies. A small number of Lyft drivers were pulled up about 30% and were more likely to be cited for speeding (two analyses yielded 24 and 33% results). When cited, they could also receive a fine of 23 or 34% more than a white driver.
The rest of the question is, why – police may act out of bias, or they may be able to try and stop minority drivers as they are prone to problematic driving. Therefore, researchers compared the actual frequency of speeding based on GPS data and used accidents as a proxy for problematic driving habits. Neither of these showed significant differences between minority and white drivers.
Therefore, researchers are left to conclude that for what is called “animus” to minority drivers on the part of police, it is simply for what is called “animus.” And the problem goes far beyond the effects of the fine itself. Researchers point out that most car insurance contract providers offer discounts for drivers to avoid traffic violations. This suggests that minorities face the additional burden of paying more simply because they can drive with insurance, which is what US states legally require.
Science, 2025. Doi: 10.1126/science.adp5357 (About DOI).
