NEW HAMPSHIRE - ALCOHOL SAFETY ACTION PROJECT - ANALYSIS OF THE ADJUDICATION OF ALCOHOL RELATED TRAFFIC ARRESTS FINAL REPORT, 1977

• NCJ Number: 52299
• Author(s): R G ULMER; H H JACOBS
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 28 pages
• Contract Number(s): DOT HS-055-1-71
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Admin
• Corporate Author: Dunlap and Associates
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

DISPOSITIONS OF DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED (DWI) CASES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE FOLLOWING THE STATE'S INTRODUCTION OF A MULTIFACETED PROGRAM DESIGNED TO DETER ALCOHOL-IMPAIRED DRIVING ARE ANALYZED.

Abstract

THE NEW HAMPSHIRE ALCOHOL SAFETY ACTION PROJECT (ASAP), OPERATIONAL FROM 1972 THROUGH 1976, CONSISTED OF A VARIETY OF COUNTERMEASURES IN THE AREAS OF ENFORCEMENT, DRIVER RETRAINING/REHABILITATION, AND PUBLIC INFORMATION. WHILE ASAP WAS OPERATIONAL, CERTAIN LAWS RELATING TO DWI CASES WERE MODIFIED, ANNUAL DWI COURT CASELOADS MORE THAN TRIPLED, BREATH TESTING REPLACED BLOOD TESTING FOR EVIDENTIARY PURPOSES, LEGAL CHALLENGES AND COURT RULINGS ESTABLISHED NEW CASE LAW, AND ASAP-ADMINISTERED REHABILITATION WAS ADDED AS AN OPTION IN DWI ADJUDICATION. BECAUSE THE NEW HAMPSHIRE COURTS ALREADY WERE HANDLING MOST DWI CASES EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY, ASAP PLANNERS MINIMIZED DIRECT INTERVENTION IN THE ADJUDICATION PROCESS AND ESTABLISHED A SYSTEM WHEREBY CONVICTED DWI OFFENDERS COULD BE REFERRED TO ASAP FOR POSTSENTENCE DIAGNOSIS AND ENTRY INTO DRIVER RETRAINING SCHOOL. SCHOOL ATTENDANCE WAS ENCOURAGED THROUGH A SYSTEM OF VARIABLE-LENGTH LICENSE REVOCATION. ANALYSIS OF DATA GATHERED JOINTLY BY ASAP AND THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES SHOWS THAT IN 1976, OF 8,478 TOTAL DWI ARRESTS, 1,090 HAD BLOOD ALCOHOL COUNTS (BAC'S) BELOW 0.10 AND WERE NOT ARRAIGNED, 6,300 WERE CHARGED AS FIRST OFFENDERS, AND 489 WERE CHARGED AS SECOND OFFENDERS. (NO DISPOSITION RECORD WAS OBTAINED FOR 699.) OF THE 5,483 FIRST OFFENDERS WHO WERE FOUND GUILTY, 1,819 WERE REFERRED TO ASAP. COMPARATIVE DATA FOR 1971 THROUGH 1976 SHOW THAT THE AVERAGE FINE FOR DWI FIRST OFFENSES HAS INCREASED GRADUALLY OVER THE YEARS, AS HAS JUDGES' USE OF THE ASAP REFERRAL/VARIABLE LICENSE REVOCATION DISPOSITION. IN 1976 THE AVERAGE FINE FOR FIRST OFFENDERS WAS $160, AND THE MOST COMMON REVOCATION PERIOD WAS 60 DAYS (46.8 PERCENT OF ALL REVOCATIONS). VARIABLE REVOCATION ASSOCIATED WITH ASAP REFERRAL ACCOUNTED FOR 32.5 PERCENT OF ALL REVOCATIONS FOR FIRST OFFENDERS. THE DATA ANALYSIS COVERS DWI PLEAS AND FINDINGS, PENALTIES, APPEALS, COMPARISON AMONG JURISDICTIONS, AND CHARACTERISTICS (BAC) AT ARREST, AGE, RESIDENCE) OF DWI OFFENDERS. THIRTEEN TABLES ARE INCLUDED. (LKM)