AN EVALUATION OF MICHIGAN'S REPEAT ALCOHOL OFFENDER LAWS

The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute was selected to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of Michigan's repeat alcohol offender package of laws by investigating 14 research objectives. These objectives ranged from determining the effects of the laws on crashes and crash-related injury to determining the effectiveness of sanctioning on drunk driving recidivism to assessing the opinions of prosecuting attorneys in Michigan. The study found about a 30% decrease in the rate of crashes involving drivers currently under license suspension/revocation. This decrease in crashes resulted in about a 37% decrease in injury rates and a 13% decrease in fatality rates from crashes involving drivers currently under suspension/revocation. The study also found that there was about a 39% decrease in crashes involving people with two or more previous alcohol-related convictions, while there was only a 1% decrease in crashes involving people with one previous alcohol-related conviction. The analysis of injuries revealed more than a 40% postlaw decrease in injuries resulting from crashes involving drivers with two-or-more previous alcohol-related convictions. Comparison between the prelaw and postlaw years showed that the number of two-plus offenders decreased by about 5%; the number of three-plus offenders decreased by about 18%. Comparison between prelaw and postlaw years revealed that the rate of Driving While License Suspended (DWLS) recidivism increased by 2%. Thus, the laws did not seem to have the intended effect of reducing DWLS recidivism. The new repeat offender sanctions were found to be applied quite infrequently, but ignition interlocks had the lowest rate of future recidivism. Plea bargaining to a lesser alcohol offense was found to be quite frequent, but did not affect repeat offender status. Prosecuting attorneys, in general, did not report increases in workload and thought that the repeat offender laws make it easier to prosecute drunk driving cases. Several other findings are presented.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Alternative title: Evaluation of Michigan's Repeat Alcohol Offender Package.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute

  2901 Baxter Road
  Ann Arbor, MI  United States  48109-2150

  Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning

  400 Collins Road, P.O. Box 30633
  Lansing, MI  United States  48909-8133
• Authors:
  • Eby, D W
  • Kostyniuk, L P
  • Spradlin, H
  • Sudharsan, K
  • Zakrajsek, J S
  • Miller, L L
• Publication Date: 2002-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 191 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alcohol ignition interlock devices; Driving without a license; Drunk drivers; Prosecution; Recidivism; Recidivists; Revocation; Sanctions; State laws; Suspensions
• Geographic Terms: Michigan
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00943446
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: UMTRI-2002-23,, Final Report,, HS-043 519
• Contract Numbers: MAL-00-01
• Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jun 19 2003 12:00AM