SUBSTANCE ABUSE ASSESSMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA DRIVERS CONVICTED OF DWI SINCE JANUARY 1990

In a continuing refinement of North Carolina's efforts to address the problem of impaired driving, in 1988, Senate Bill 508 mandated substance abuse assessment for a large proportion of drivers convicted of driving while intoxicated (DWI) in North Carolina. A 1991 study by the Highway Safety Research Center (HSRC) indicated that a large number of individuals (24%) were not being required in 1988 to go through the assessment process by the courts. Moreover, a substantial proportion (55%) of those who were sentenced to assessment had not completed the process. Hence, only 36% of persons eligible for assessment due to a DWI conviction had a completed 508 form on file with DMV. One of the central questions addressed in this report was the possibility that there are systematic biases in the diagnosis of a substance abuse handicap and, hence, in assignment of individuals to an appropriate treatment or education program. We found no evidence that private agencies are any more or less likely than public agencies to designate individuals as having a handicap and needing treatment.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • See also PB92-179530. Sponsored by North Carolina Dept. of Human Resources, Raleigh.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  Highway Safety Research Center
  Chapel Hill, NC  United States  27599
• Authors:
  • Foss, R D
  • Stewart, J R
  • Martell, C A
• Publication Date: 1993-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 40 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Driver education; Drunk driving; Impaired drivers
• Uncontrolled Terms: Treatment programs
• Geographic Terms: North Carolina
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00676855
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: UNC-HSRC-93-8-5
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 18 1995 12:00AM