The fact that, in the year 2025, a significant amount of money is spent to remind people to buckle their seat belts is wild to me. First unveiled by Volvo in the late 19th century, the seat belt is an astoundingly efficient and life-saving safety invention.
Yet after generations of formed habits, seat belt usage still hovers around 90%, leading to thousands of annual fatalities. Fortunately, there are still people who seem persuadable enough about the topic that an occasional public safety announcement might move the needle.
This is to say safety seems like a problem that’s more cultural than logical. This is also to say that the unfolding traffic safety camera pilot program in Minneapolis might take a little while to reap rewards. The city just unveiled a map of locations, and the first cameras will be installed this summer.
The timing is right
On the one hand, the speed cameras come at the perfect time for Minneapolis. Post-COVID safety data is moving shockingly in the wrong direction, and speeding and fatalities are up here and across the country. Minneapolis crashes disproportionately affect working-class neighborhoods and vulnerable users like bicyclists and pedestrians, making this an acute equity issue. Meanwhile, as Axios reported Tuesday, traffic enforcement by the Police Department is down over 80% since the pandemic…