Effectiveness of the Ohio Vehicle Action and Administrative License Suspension Laws

Voas, Robert B.; Tippetts, A. Scott; Taylor, Eileen · 2000 · ROSA P / United States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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Summary

This study evaluates the effectiveness of two legislative measures implemented in Ohio in September 1993: an Administrative License Suspension (ALS) law and a Vehicle Action (VA) law involving vehicle impoundment and immobilization. The research was motivated by the prevalence of driving while suspended (DWS) among DUI offenders, a problem exacerbated by delays in court-based license suspensions and the difficulty of enforcing suspension penalties. The study aimed to determine if immediate license suspension and vehicle sanctions could reduce DUI recidivism, moving violations, and crash involvement. The researchers analyzed the driving records of 43,718 operators with DUI or implied consent convictions between September 1990 and August 1995, providing a dataset of 58,490 offenses. This five-year period allowed for comparison of three years prior to and two years following the implementation of the new laws. The analysis utilized paired sample tests, Tarone-Ware and Cox Regression Survival Analyses, and time series analysis. Specific evaluations of the VA law were conducted in Franklin and Hamilton counties, comparing offenders who received vehicle sanctions against eligible offenders who did not. The findings indicate that traditional license suspension significantly reduced DUI offenses by 32% to 43% and crashes by 24% to 35% compared to fully licensed offenders. The implementation of the ALS law increased the proportion of first-time offenders receiving a license suspension from 60% to 99% and second-time offenders from 85% to 99%. Consequently, recidivism rates dropped sharply; within 24 months of arrest, only 5% of first-time offenders and 7% of multiple offenders committed another DUI, compared to 15% and 25% respectively before the law. Crash involvement also decreased significantly, from 12% to 5% for first-time offenders and from 14% to 7% for repeat offenders. Regarding the Vehicle Action law, offenders whose vehicles were impounded or immobilized showed substantially lower offense rates during the sanction period and after the vehicle’s return. In Franklin County, DUI offenses decreased by 58% and DWS offenses by 65% during the sanction period, with reductions of 35% and 42% respectively after the sanction. Hamilton County reported similar results, with 60% fewer offenses during impoundment and 56% fewer DUI offenses afterward. The study concludes that immediate license suspension and vehicle sanctions are highly effective deterrents. It recommends that ALS laws begin suspension at the time of arrest and that vehicle sanctions be applied uniformly to multiple offenders and DWS violators to maximize public safety benefits.

Key finding

Vehicle impoundment or immobilization reduced DUI and driving while suspended offense rates by 58% to 65% during the sanction period and by 35% to 56% in the subsequent 23 months compared to eligible offenders who did not receive vehicle sanctions.

Methodology

dataset

Sample size: 43718

Provenance

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Topics

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• dui enforcement

Information type

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• Applied Guidance: policy recommendations