ANY FIRST ALCOHOL-IMPAIRED DRIVING EVENT IS A SIGNIFICANT AND SUBSTANTIAL PREDICTOR OF FUTURE RECIDIVISM

It is a widely held belief among the legislative and judicial branches of state government in the United States that first offenders criminally convicted of violating an alcohol-related traffic law are drivers with a single and isolated alcohol-related event. This finding is inconsistent with published estimates that a person can drive while impaired by alcohol 200 to 2,000 times before being arrested once (1-6). Moreover, some drivers manage to have their records expunged under certain conditions and many state motor vehicle administration (MVA) offices routinely purge driving records after a set number of years. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the typical so-called first offender will have had an extensive history of alcohol-impaired driving by the time he or she makes it into the MVA's record system. The low probability of arrest (much less conviction) for alcohol-impaired driving, the practice of expunging and/or purging driver records, and the leniency with which state legislative and judicial systems handle so-called first offenders warrants a closer look at administrative, criminal, and diversion sanctions and the impact of "disposition sequence" on the deterrence of alcohol-impaired driving. (A) For the covering abstract of the conference, see ITRD Abstract No. E201067.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/2511215927
• Corporate Authors:

  Societe de l'assurance Automobile du Quebec

  Quebec, Quebec  Canada 
• Authors:
  • Ahlin, E M
  • BAUM, H M
  • DUNCAN, D
  • Raleigh, R
  • Joyce, J
  • GRETSINGER, N
  • RAUCH, W J
  • ZADOR, P L
• Conference:
  • PROCEEDINGS OF THE 16TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ALCOHOL, DRUGS AND TRAFFIC SAFETY
• Publication Date: 2002

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 161-167

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Conferences; Drunk drivers; Drunk driving; Forecasting; Recidivists; Risk taking
• Geographic Terms: United States
• ITRD Terms: 8525: Conference; 2231: Drunkenness; 132: Forecast; 1519: Recidivist; 2259: Risk taking; 8122: USA
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00971675
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transportation Association of Canada (TAC)
• ISBN: 2-511-21592-7
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Apr 22 2004 12:00AM