NCJ Number
100619
Journal
Journal of Safety Research Volume: 15 Issue: 3 Dated: (1984) Pages: 117-124
Date Published
1984
Length
8 pages
Annotation
To examine the impact of Washington's 1980 driving-while-intoxicated (DWI) law, alcohol-related violations and total accidents were compared for 6 groups: 3,724 (1978) and 4,411 (1980) first-time DWI offenders; 197 (1978) and 189 (1980) multiple-DWI offenders; and 2,977 (1978 and 1980) nonoffenders.
Abstract
The data came from the Washington Department of Labor driver record system. The six study groups were determined by a 2 by 3 factorial evaluation design. The new law was intended to increase the certainty of conviction by making .10-percent blood alcohol count illegal per se and to increase the severity of punishment by requiring a mandatory jail sentence. All three comparisons show a trend toward increased DWI violations from 1978 to 1980. Further, it was found that individuals convicted under the provisions of the new law had higher accident rates and drunk-driving rates than did those convicted under the previous law. These increases suggest that mandatory jail sentences may fail to deter subsequent acts of drunk driving. It is concluded that alternative legal sanctions, such as license suspension or revocation, may be sufficiently stringent to produce both general and specific deterrence of DWI. 10 references. (Author abstract modified)