This article provides an interim report on research sponsored by the Home Office into the facts and figures of disqualified driving. The project is examining disqualified driving from the viewpoints of: (1) the courts; (2) the defendants; (3) the aggrieved; (4) the public; (5) police officers. The project is being conducted by two police officers in Thames Valley Police, who formed a data base of disqualified drivers in the force area and then examined their driving records. The figures reveal that about 94% of the disqualified drivers are male, about 42% are aged 21 to 30, and 83% were convicted of drink driving. Enforcement is a major problem, because about 16% of those disqualified had at least one previous conviction for driving while disqualified, and nearly 30% had never taken a driving test. The largest single problem with the policing of disqualified driving is information, most of which is still stored on paper despite the advent of computers. The author advocates extending the use of computers to help predict and solve crime to the selection of people likely to drive while disqualified; a small experiment is already targetting suspects predicted by computer.
Abstract