NCJ Number
132004
Journal
Alcohol, Drugs and Driving Volume: 6 Issue: 3-4 Dated: (July-December 1990) Pages: 109-117
Date Published
1990
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Recent research from the Tayside Safe Driving Project has led to three changes in the British policy for controlling the high risk offender who is unlikely to be deterred by the normal legal sanctions.
Abstract
Overall, one-fifth of the 1,045 motorists participating in the research who were arrested for drinking and driving in Tayside Region over a 2-year period had raised gammaglutamyul transferase (GGT) levels; one-third of the drivers had been arrested for impaired driving, and one-fourth had been involved in an accident. Changes in British policy designed to control the high risk offender include: as an interim measure, lowering the present criteria for high risk offender to all offenders above 200 mg/100 ml and all second and subsequent offenders; recognizing the importance of biological markers as predictors of problem drinking and accident liability and as a useful tool in choosing appropriate treatment programs for different types of offenders; and in response to recognition of the ineffectiveness of current enforcement methods, the police have asked for additional legal powers to allow random breath testing. 5 figures, 3 tables, and 5 references (Author abstract modified)