Deadly drivers: Urge to drive makes solutions tough
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Carrie J. Sidener and Chris Dumond / Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: March 3, 2008
In California, the state takes away the cars of drivers caught behind the wheel multiple times with an invalid license.
Drivers in Iowa convicted three times for specific offenses, such as driving on a suspended license, can be barred from driving for up to six years.
Some counties in Florida give drivers who have lost their licenses alternative punishments, like community service, to get them properly re-licensed.
Lawmakers nationwide are trying to find ways to reduce the number of drivers who habitually drive on an invalid license.
The stakes are high - almost 80 percent of people with revoked or suspended licenses continue to drive, according to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. These drivers are 3.7 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than those who are validly licensed, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
"Because people continue to drive on a revoked or suspended license, license sanctions aren't enough of a deterrent," said a study by the AAA foundation.
Drivers in Virginia can have their license taken away for a variety of reasons - the most common include failing to pay fines and court costs, convictions for offenses like drunk driving and drug possession and failure to maintain insurance.
Statewide, roughly one in seven drivers had a suspended license in 2007, according to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.
While the state doesn't track how many drivers get behind the wheel without a valid license, police and court officials say many get caught again and again.
"They're people who, for whatever reason, have decided they are not going to obey the law. … If they are not going to obey the law as far as driving on a suspended license, there probably are other traffic laws they are breaking as well, " said Lynchburg's Commonwealth Attorney Michael Doucette.
Bedford County's Commonwealth Attorney Randy Krantz said sentencing options for repeat drunk-driving convictions are inadequate.
"The problem is, after one of these people hurts or kills someone, we have all kinds of weapons to bring to bear - but it's too late," he said.
At least 19 people have been killed on Central Virginia roads in the past five years in crashes where at least one driver did not have a valid license.
Krantz drew parallels between repeat offenders and the mental health issues raised after the shootings at Virginia Tech.
"There's a mental health issue here with these folks as an eminent danger that needs to be considered," he said. "Do we have the will to put drunk driving where it should be, up there with murder with a firearm or injecting someone with heroin-
"These people are a grave risk to the public - a person willing to get drunk, then get behind the wheel of a car, which is a deadly weapon."
States are trying all sorts of measures to address the problem. In Virginia, Del. Lionell Spruill, D-Chesapeake, has twice introduced a bill that would require any person convicted for the third time, or more, of driving under the influence to have a special license plate.
The plate would be yellow with red lettering. The driver would have to display it on all vehicles registered to that driver for five years after driving privileges have been restored.
Spruill first introduced the bill in 2007, and again in January. It has been continued to the 2009 session of the House Courts of Justice committee.
He was inspired to introduce the legislation by a 2005 crash in Chesapeake, where a mother of three was killed after the car she was riding in ran off the road. The driver was convicted of driving under the influence in the crash, and it wasn't his first time.
"I read it and I thought who in the world kept this guy on the streets," Spruill said. "All I'm trying to do is save lives."
Another bill on the Senate floor proposes alcohol ignition interlock devices on cars of DUI offenders who violate the terms of their alcohol safety awareness program.
First introduced by Del. Sal Iaquinto, R-Virginia Beach, the bill originally required installation of ignition interlock devices upon a first conviction of drunk driving.
Special stickers or license plates have been used effectively in states like Oregon and Washington, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study.
Those laws allow an arresting officer to seize the vehicle registration. The motor vehicle division will then issue a special sticker or plate that gives officers probable cause to stop the vehicle on the road.
In these states, the special stickers were given to convicted drunk drivers who were later caught driving without a license.
Stephen Talpins is vice president of industry relations for Alcohol Monitoring Systems, a private company that designs devices like monitoring bracelets and ignition interlocks that help keep bad drivers off the road.
Talpins said a program in Florida is showing some promise in reducing illegal driving by turning those drivers into legal drivers. The program takes drivers who have lost their licenses for failure to pay fines and gives them alternatives, including community service, to pay back the fines and get re-licensed.
"Despite our efforts, the numbers in Florida are staggering," Talpins said.
California has tried to reduce the number of suspended drivers still on the road by impounding their vehicles, regardless of who owns the car. About half are sold. The impoundment law has reduced charges of driving on a revoked or suspended license by about 20 percent, according to the AAA foundation study.
Iowa law allows for drivers who have accumulated points on their license to take a class to keep from getting their license suspended. After taking the class, the driver is then put on probation for a year and any violation during that time results in a 90-day suspension.
That state also has a habitual offender law. It dictates that a person convicted three times for offenses - including driving without a valid license, drunk driving, failing to stop at the scene of a crash or attempting to elude law enforcement officers - are barred from driving for two to six years depending on the total points on the license.
Virginia used to have a similar habitual offender law, but that was repealed in 1999 because jails were becoming overcrowded with offenders serving their one-year sentence.
Under that statute, law enforcement officers were provided with a list of habitual offenders every quarter from the Department of Motor Vehicles so officers could look for those drivers on the road.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving has three specific recommendations to reduce the number of suspended drivers who continue to get behind the wheel: restrict vehicles by suspending, impounding or immobilizing them and requiring alcohol ignition interlocks; introduce restitution sanctions that include fines; and promote alcohol assessment and treatment.
A key reason solutions are so elusive, Talpins said, has more to do with lifestyle than the law.
Most people do not live close enough to walk to work, the grocery store, their child's school or the doctor's office, and most communities don't have a public transportation system that can meet those needs.
That, coupled with the desire to drive, explains why so many people continue to drive after they lose their license.
"People need to drive, and add to that the simple desire to drive," Talpins said. "There really isn't a good substitute …This is a huge, huge problem nationwide. The vast majority of people whose license is suspended continue to drive."
Staff writer Ray Reed contributed to this report.
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