Driver license suspension/revocation (S/R), executed in a swift and sure manner, is increasingly found to be an effective highway safety countermeasure in reducing crashes and traffic violations by driving while intoxicated (DWI) offenders. Recent studies (California; Washington) reveal a statistically significant reduction in both crashes and violations by convicted DWI offenders that continued for up to four years following the termination of the S/R period. However, due to crowded court dockets and for other reasons many DWI defendants are able to delay trial for many months, plea bargain to lesser offenses, or through diversion programs never come to trial at all. What role should licensing action play in deterring drunk driving? In most States S/R is not imposed for alcohol-related offenses until a record of conviction is received by the licensing agency. Now, a few progressive jurisdictions have broken this pattern and are imposing administrative suspensions/revocations against accused DWI offenders prior to court appearance. The papers reproduced herein were presented at the 14th Annual Institute on Motor Vehicle and Traffic Law at Boulder, Colorado, on August 8-12, 1982. Panel members at that conference presented papers on the Federal viewpoint on drunk driving, the experience of three jurisdictions that actively have been imposing administrative S/R, and an extensive legal dissertation on related constitutional issues. Persons representing each of the jurisdictions reporting strongly supported the use of early administrative suspensions/revocations prior to court appearance and described their State programs as working well. (Author/publisher)
Abstract