Citation

Yu J, Williford WR. J. Stud. Alcohol 1995; 56(1): 60-66.

Affiliation

New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, Albany 12203, USA.

Comment In:

J Stud Alcohol 1996;57(6):679-80

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

7752634

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Efforts were made to examine drinking-driving recidivism in relation to arrest context and subsequent case disposition. Three specific hypotheses were tested, regarding blood alcohol concentration, time of arrest and sanctions. METHOD: Complete 1989, 1990 and 1991 traffic ticket files from the New York State police were the baseline data for the study. RESULTS: Analyses show that high recidivism rates tend to be among offenders whose alcohol tickets were not disposed in a timely manner and offenders who were able to avoid a conviction even though their tickets were disposed. Other factors, such as time of arrest and the BAC reading at the arrest, do not significantly predict drinking-driving recidivism. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that, after drinking-driving laws have been dramatically reinforced, an important remaining task is to swiftly and effectively convict drinking-driving offenders. In addition, a legal mechanism should be established to monitor multiple offenders and offenders who actively delay or manipulate court processing.

Language: en