Citation

Robertson R, Holmes E. Transp. Res. Circular 2009; (E-C132): 114-123.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, U.S. National Academy of Sciences Transportation Research Board)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The paucity of information about young impaired driving offenders in the criminal justice system is somewhat surprising given the proportion of youth who continue to be involved in alcohol-related crashes, the important role of age of onset in predicting future criminal behavior, and the fact that impaired driving is one of top five offences committed by young male recidivists. There are important consequences associated with this apparent gap in existing research. Today, in many jurisdictions across Canada and the United States, young impaired drivers are frequently subject to the same traditional sanctions that are applied to adult offenders (e.g., fines, probation, community service, treatment, and incarceration) despite limited evidence of the effectiveness of these strategies even with adults. This has important implications for young impaired drivers and the criminal justice practitioners who process them. Limited knowledge about effective strategies for these offenders has led to inconsistent and possibly ineffective approaches being applied to this population. And, without effective strategies, these young offenders are at risk of becoming tomorrow’s adult drunk drivers who will continue to be involved in the justice system. Based on existing evidence that demonstrates that young impaired drivers pose a greater crash risk to the public on the roadways, and the possibility that these offenders can potentially have longer impaired driving careers, it is important that existing sanctions and programs that are applied to these offenders be evaluated to determine whether they are effective in reducing recidivism, and to guide the development of effective programs to reduce offending among this population.