This paper discusses the involvement of repeat DWI offenders (people convicted of any drinking and driving offence) in fatal crashes in the USA. Drivers with previous DWI convictions are over-represented among drivers involved in fatal crashes. The relative risk of fatal crash involvement is much greater for these repeat offenders. Although only about 3% of all licensed US drivers have a previous DWI arrest within the last three years, almost 12% of drunk drivers in fatal crashes have had at least one DWI conviction within the previous three years. Although repeat offenders have a substantially higher risk of being involved in fatal crashes, available US national records show that about seven eighths of drunk drivers in fatal crashes are not repeat offenders. A formula is given for calculating the `relative risk' of fatal crash involvement, defined as the ratio of the risk of a driver with a previous DWI being involved in a fatal crash, and the risk of a driver without a previous DWI being involved in a fatal crash. The author recommends that local jurisdictions should use the method described here to determine the size of the repeat offender problem in their area, so that they can make appropriate decisions about assessments, treatment and sanctions in handling these drivers.
Samenvatting