Drunk-driving recidivism: predicting factors from arrest context and case disposition.

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.