Brake Light Clinics are events where organizers change people’s broken brake lights for free in order to to reduce police interactions and also have discussions with people about their personal experiences with police.
More than 50,000 drivers are pulled over in a traffic stop every day in the U.S., according to the Stanford Open Policing Project, which collected reports that found police disproportionately stop black drivers at a higher rate compared to white drivers, and black drivers are 20 percent more likely to get a ticket than white drivers, underlining the stark racial disparities within the criminal justice system.
The process for fixing brake lights is simple, but will help in reducing community interactions with police and help educate the community on legislation that activists are interested in passing.
Fundamentally, we are materially impacting our communities by reducing the number of police interactions working-class people encounter due to bogus reasons such as broken brake lights and building relationships with our neighbors!
Download the Gimme a Brake (Light) DIY Guide PDF
(thanks DSA New Orleans for this awesome ebooklet!)