This article advocates that drunk driving offences should no longer be handled by the criminal justice system. Instead, penalties for such offences should be handled by an administrative system. Such systems lead not to fines and jail terms, but to licence suspension and revocation. Typically, licences may be taken for 90 days or longer, not for the crime of drunk driving but for the administrative offence of having been in charge of a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration exceeding the tolerated limit. The driver's licence is usually taken on the spot by the police, and all driving privileges are formally withdrawn after a short period in which appeal can be made against the penalty imposed. At the appeal, only a few issues are reviewed. Usually these are whether the person was properly stopped and requested to provide a breath test, and whether the test was failed or refused. The evidence indicates that such penalties are quicker and more effective than those produced by the courts. Where blood alcohol concentrations are unusually high, the cases might still be considered criminal offences. Vehicles either driven by drivers convicted under either system or owned byhis or her immediate family should display special number plates indicating a possible revoked state of the driver.
Samenvatting