The threat of police enforcement isn’t deterring dangerous drivers from texting behind the wheel, a new study shows — the latest reminder that law enforcement is unreliable in making streets safer.

Study: Police Are Weak Deterrent to Texting While Driving

<p>Got tips? Send them to me via Signal, the encrypted messaging app, at 207-310-0728. You can also follow me on <a href="https://better.boston/@cmilneil" rel="me">Mastodon.</a></p>


Christian MilNeil

A bar chart titled "ticketed civil violations of Mass. speed limit laws since 2013, source: MassDOT driver citation portal, drivercitationdata.dot.mass.gov. The chart x-axis goes from 2013 (left) to 2025 (right) and the y-axis from 0 to 120,000. The bars show a steady downward trend from 2013 (112,503) to 2020 (55,314), then rebound slightly and plateau around 65,000 in 2024 and 2025.

Policing

Mass. Law Enforcement Data Show Dramatic Decline In Speeding Tickets

A crowd of approx. 60 people, some seated in four rows of chairs, and more standing against the walls, fills a room facing a podium where a white-haired woman is speaking in front of the Massachusetts state seal and two flags.

Traffic Enforcement Camera Bills Pick Up Speed on Beacon Hill

A camera inside a gray metal box mounted to a street light pole next to a "no standing" sign.

Legislation

Policy Riders In Governor’s Budget Proposal Would Legalize Speed Enforcement Cameras, End Debt-Based License Suspensions

A row of armed masked police in confront a row of protesters on a snowy winter street.

‘Kavanaugh Stops’ Are Making Streets More Dangerous

When the Government Says You’re ‘Weaponizing’ Your Car

<p>Sam Mintz is currently the editor of <a href="https://brookline.news/">Brookline.News</a>, a nonprofit news website covering the Town of Brookline. Before moving back to the Boston area in 2021, Sam spent five years in D.C. covering Congress and federal agencies for Politico and E&amp;E News.</p>


Sam Mintz

A grinning woman with rectangular eyeglasses and shoulder-length wavy black hair

Family Members Lament Light Sentence for Driver Who Killed Tamar Vishlitzky

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Streetsblog Network

Connecting people to information about how to improve walking, biking, and transit

Streetsblog Massachusetts

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Meghan Volcy

A wide, clear sidewalk in downtown Malden Center leads commuters toward the MBTA station, with snow piled at the curb.

Uncategorized

Eyes On the Street: Three Weeks After the Storm, Snow Woes Remain Across Greater Boston

Two MBTA buses, white with yellow and black stripes under the windows and the word "ELECTRIC" above, sit in a parking lot under an elaborate steel gantry with charging equipment.

MBTA

Volkswagen’s Crimes Help Finance New Electric Buses In Massachusetts

About 40 cars occupy five lanes of highway in crawling traffic that stretches off to the horizon..

The Climate Emergency

Climate Report Card Gives MassDOT A Failing Grade As Mass. Misses Key Climate Goals

Locator map showing Pittsfield MA, with downtown labelled on the right edge of the map, and W. Housatonic St. (Rt. 20) running horizontally across the center. A red dot in the upper right on Linden St. is labelled "initial crash site"; another red dot along W. Housatonic in the lower left corner of the map, several miles away, is labelled "body recovered"

Crashes

Pittsfield Cops Suspect Driver Killed Pedestrian Then Dragged His Body Across the City

Daily headlines

Friday’s Headlines Are Full of Hot Air

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A plastic credit-card sized card, mostly white, with the T logo next to the word "Charlie" in a sans-serif font. On the left side of the card are several interwoven colored bands, evocative of the MBTA subway map.

Transit

We Tried the New CharlieCard. Here’s What to Know

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