A few weeks ago, reports began circulating that thanks to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) roundups in major cities, the notorious 'parking lot' traffic in Los Angeles was suddenly cleared out, allowing people to jet around the city like 'the old days.' 

Of course, leftist rags like Newsweek attempted to debunk the reports, citing insurance claims adjuster and LA resident Jason Lemus, who said "The level of misinformation about this is nuts," adding "There's been no significant impact to traffic in LA."

What's interesting, however, is that the number of collisions are down roughly 10% y/y for the period between Jan. 20 - Mar. 14 in both Los Angeles and New York City. 

LOS ANGELES – LAPD TRAFFIC COLLISION REPORTS:

    From Jan. 20, 2024 through Mar. 14, 2024: 2,289 reported collisions.
From Jan. 20, 2025 through Mar. 14, 2025: 2,076 reported collisions.
    Decrease of 9.3%

NEW YORK CITY – NYPD TRAFFIC COLLISION REPORTS:

    From Jan. 20, 2024 through Jul. 23, 2024: 46,267 reported collisions.
From Jan. 20, 2025 through Jul. 23, 2025 (latest available data): 41,459 reported collisions.
    Decrease of 10.4%

So while this data doesn't explicitly prove that ICE arrests of illegals has had an impact on both freeway congestion and collisions, hard data shows a dramatic drop in collisions year-over-year. 

Any thoughts as to why?