Welcome to the Taillight Zone

People get pulled over all the time for violations like broken taillights and tinted windows. The infractions are minor, but the interactions can escalate into something major. And behind it all is a drive for revenue. NYT (Gift Article): The Demand for Money Behind Many Police Traffic Stops. “A hidden scaffolding of financial incentives underpins the policing of motorists in the United States, encouraging some communities to essentially repurpose armed officers as revenue agents searching for infractions largely unrelated to public safety. As a result, driving is one of the most common daily routines during which people have been shot, Tased, beaten or arrested after minor offenses.”

+ On the other end of the vehicular violation spectrum, Las Vegas Raider Henry Ruggs III was driving drunk at 156 mph before rear ending another car in a fatal crash.