DOI: 10.3886/icpsr04078
title: North Carolina Highway Traffic Study, 2000-2001
title: Archival Version

description: This study investigated whether the North Carolina State
Highway Patrol (NCSHP) practiced racial profiling. The NCSHP provided
data on all vehicular stops (Parts 1 and 2), written warnings (Part
3), and citations (Part 4) its officers issued in 2000. This included
data on what the stops or tickets were for, the race, sex, and age of
the driver, and the make, model, and year of the car being driven.
Data on accidents in 2000 (Part 5), also obtained from the NCSHP, were
used to examine whether there were racial disparities in unsafe
driving practices. These data included information about what caused
the accident and the race, sex, and age of the driver. The NCSHP also
supplied data on all officers who worked for the NCSHP in 2000 (Part
6), including their race, age, and rank. The data in Part 6 can be
linked to the data in Parts 3 and 4. In addition, two surveys of North
Carolina drivers were conducted to gather information on reported
typical driving behaviors that may influence the probability of being
stopped, and to gather information about stops conducted by law
enforcement agencies across the state. One was conducted using a
sample of North Carolina drivers who had recently renewed their
licenses (Part 7), and the other used a sample of North Carolina
drivers who were ticketed for speeding between June 1, 1999, and June
1, 2000 (Part 8).
description: This study investigated whether the North
 Carolina State Highway Patrol (NCSHP) practiced racial profiling. The
 research aimed to answer four basic questions: (1) Do NCSHP troopers
 stop minorities, particularly African Americans, on the road at higher
 rates that they stop Whites? (2) Once stopped, do African Americans
 and Whites experience different rates for citations, written warnings,
 and searches? (3) What factors might account for highway stops? and
 (4) How do African Americans and other ethnic minorities experience
 and respond to traffic stops? and (5) Is there any racial disparity in
violations of traffic laws?
description: The project began in 1999 when the North Carolina
 State Legislature mandated that the NCSHP assemble data on the racial
 distribution of all vehicular stops initiated by officers. The NCSHP
 provided official data for the year 2000 on vehicular stops, written
 warnings, citations, and accidents. Part 1 consists of data on all
 stops between January and July 2000. Part 2 contains data on all stops
 between August and December 2000. Part 3 contains data on all written
 warnings issued between January and December 2000. Part 4 contains
 data on all citations issued between January and August 2000. Part 5
 contains data from NCSHP accident files for all accidents that
 occurred in 2000. Part 6 contains all roster records of active and
 inactive officers of NCSHP in 2000. Part 7 contains data from a survey
 of 2,920 North Carolina licensed drivers, including 1,445 African
 Americans and 1,475 Whites. The survey was administered by the Public
 Opinion Laboratory at Northern Illinois University. The survey
 collected information on reported typical driving behaviors that may
 influence the probability of being stopped. In addition, the survey
 asked respondents whether they were stopped in the last year, why they
 were stopped, the outcome of the stop, and how they were treated. The
 survey was conducted by telephone between June 22, 2000, and March 20,
 2001. Part 8 contains data from a survey of 605 North Carolina
 residents who were ticketed for speeding between June 1, 1999, and
 June 1, 2000. Interviews were conducted by the Public Opinion
 Laboratory at Northern Illinois University over telephone between July
 2000 and March 2001. One week before the initial telephone contact
 attempt, letters were sent to each of the people in the sample. The
 letter explained that the survey focused on the driving experiences of
 people in North Carolina and their observations of other drivers on
North Carolina roads.
description: Variables in Part 1 include stop date, time,
 purpose, county, interstate number or road name where stop occurred,
 mile post where stop occurred, state where vehicle was registered,
 vehicle year, make, and model, driver age, sex, and gender, action
 taken by the officer, whether contraband was found if a search was
 performed, and the age, sex, and race of up to four passengers.
 Variables in Part 2 include stop date, time, officer action, and the
 city where the stop occurred. Variables in Part 3 include date of the
 violation, highway type, county, charge, and the offender's race and
 sex. Variables in Part 4 include county of violation, status of
 citation, type of accident, type of highway, specific highway where
 the offense occurred, date and time of the offense, the first two
 offense codes on the citation, charged speed, speed limit of zone,
 race and sex of the offender, state of the offender's driver's
 license, vehicle type, date scheduled for court, and the county where
 the case was heard. Variables in Part 5 include whether the record
 applies to a driver, occupant, or victim, date, time, and day of the
 week of the accident, county, specific highway accident occurred on,
 number of vehicles and people involved, number killed and injured,
 predominant development type of area, road features, type of road,
 crash type, contributing circumstances, vehicle maneuver that led to
 accident, object struck, type of vehicle, vehicle defects, speed
 limit, driver's race, sex, and age, whether driver intoxication was
 suspected, and occupants' race, sex, and age. Variables in Part 6
 include officer's rank, race, age, county, whether officer was active,
 and what training the officer had completed. Variables in Part 7
 include driver's birth year, race, and sex, number miles driven in a
 typical week, miles driven last year, how often the respondent drove
 on highways, questions about common driving habits, number of times
 police stopped to help respondent in the last year, times pulled over
 by police in the last year, make, model, and year of the car
 respondent drove most often, answers to questions about the last three
 times the respondent was pulled over in the last year, including car
 being driven, when stop occurred, type of road, type of officer,
 reason for stop, whether a ticket was received, and behavior of
 officer, number of times stopped in lifetime, experience of
 respondent's friends and family with being pulled over by the police,
 what types of people the respondent thought were most likely to get
 pulled over, respondent's confidence in the police, respondent's
 education, and whether respondent owned or rented. Variables in Part 8
 include driver's birth year, sex, and race, number miles driven in a
 typical week, miles driven last year, how often the respondent drove
 on highways, whether respondent practiced a set of common driving
 habits, what types of people the respondent thought were most likely
 to get pulled over, number of times pulled over in last year, number
 of times pulled over in the last year for speeding, answers to
 questions about the last three times the respondent was pulled over
 for speeding in the last year, including car being driven, when the
 stop occurred, type of officer, speed officer said respondent was
 going, speed limit, and whether respondent was ticketed, respondent's
education, and whether respondent owned or rented.
description: Response Rates: Parts 1-6: not applicable, Part 7: 59.1 percent,
Part 8: 69.5 percent.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Several Likert-type scales were used in Parts 7 and 8.
description: Parts 1-6: Not applicable. Part 7: The survey sample was
 stratified by race. The sampling frame included White and African
 American drivers who had applied for or renewed their licenses in the
 previous six months. Part 8: The sample was drawn from a list of names
 provided by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts. It
 was weighted in order to have approximately one-half African American
respondents and one-half White respondents.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Stop Data for January-July 2000
DS2: Stop Data for August-December 2000
DS3: Warnings Data, 2000
DS4: Citations Data for January-August 2000
DS5: Accidents Data, 2000
DS6: Public Roster of NCSHP Officers, 2000
DS7: Driver Survey Data, 2000-2001
DS8: Reverse Record Check Survey Data, 2000-2001
description: Part 1: All vehicular stops initiated by the NCSHP from
January through July 2000. Part 2: All vehicular stops initiated by
the NCSHP from August through December 2000. Part 3: All written
warnings issued by the NCSHP in 2000. Part 4: All citations issued by
the NCSHP in 2000. Part 5: All accidents for which the NCSHP filed a
report in 2000. Part 6: Officers in the NCSHP in 2000. Part 7:
Licensed drivers in North Carolina. Part 8: North Carolina drivers who
were ticketed for speeding between June 1, 1999, and June 1, 2000. Smallest Geographic Unit: county