Estimates of DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) Driver Re cidivism in Minnesota Fatal Crashes

• NCJ Number: 102852
• Author(s): R Lewis
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 18 pages
• Corporate Author: Minnesota Dept of Public Safety
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

An estimate of driving while intoxicated (DWI) recidivism among drivers involved in fatal crashes was obtained using data from the Minnesota Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) for 1984.

Abstract

Of the 380 fatally injured drivers tested for alcohol (88 percent of the total), 41 percent were negative for alcohol, 12 percent were in the .01 to .09 percent range, and 47 percent were over .10 percent. Of 148 of 394 surviving drivers tested, 57 percent were negative and 31 percent were over .10 percent or refused testing. Estimates based on these data, which are dependent on court conviction for DWI in the 3 years prior to fatal crash involvement, show only a 7-percent recidivism rate overall. Among drinking drivers (34 percent of all involved drivers), 25 percent had had a previous alcohol related license action. Further these recidivists were more likely than nonrecidivists to have been involved in a motor vehicle accident in the prior 3 years, to have been convicted for other traffic offenses, and to have had their licenses revoked or suspended since enactment of the 1976 implied consent statute. 1 figure, 3 tables, and 7 references. (Author abstract modified)