Urban traffic fines: disciplining dangerous or vulnerable road users?

Abstract

While research on traffic policing is dominated by technical studies in the field of traffic safety, critical accounts show that traffic laws are socially constructed and selectively enforced. Based on an analysis of traffic fines in Barcelona for the years 2022–24, our article assesses and reflects on the equity of traffic enforcement strategies across transport modes. In the context of policing campaigns targeting cyclists and e-scooters, we examine whether these two transport modes are overrepresented in traffic fines relative to their trip volumes and involvement in traffic crashes. Our findings show that cyclists and especially e-scooters are overrepresented compared to motorists if we only look at manually issued fines, accounting for 32% of fines despite representing only 13% of trips and 13% of vehicles involved in traffic crashes; however, if we include automated fines cars become the most fined vehicles relative to trip volumes and crash involvement. In addition, the average amount for fines issued to cyclists and e-scooters is much higher than for car drivers and motorcyclists. These monetary disparities, we suggest, raise important questions regarding fairness in the treatment of traffic violations between transport modes, hinting at a motonormative bias in existing traffic legislation.