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Date: November 25, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:09 pm
Time: 9:09 pm
Results for drivers license suspension
2 results foundAuthor: Strathman, James G. Title: Evaluation of the Oregon DMV Driver Improvement Program: Final Report Summary: This report provides an evaluation of the Oregon Department of Transportation-Driver and Motor Vehicle (DMV) Services Driver Improvement Program (DIP), which was substantially changed in 2002. Prior to 2002, the DIP was organized around four progressive steps involving advisory letters, warning letters, probation, and suspension. The current program is organized around two steps: restriction and suspension. The timeline to the steps in the current program have also been shortened. To evaluate the current program, driver records of persons suspended between January and July of 2004 were examined in relation to a sample of Oregon's driving population. The incidence of crashes and traffic offense convictions of DIP subjects in the 18-month period prior to suspension was compared to the incidence of these events among the driving population. A similar comparison was also made for the 18-month period following suspension. A substantial reduction in the relative incidence of crashes and convictions among DIP subjects following suspension was observed. This finding is subject to the effects of regression-to-the-mean. An approximation of regression-to-the-mean effects was made based on prior evaluations of Oregon's DIP that employed a true experimental design. A regression analysis was also undertaken using driver record information from the period prior to suspension to estimate the likelihood of post-suspension crash and traffic offense conviction involvement. The estimated likelihood of post-suspension crash involvement was significantly affected by the frequency of pre-suspension crashes, but not by the frequency of pre-suspension convictions. Conversely, the estimated likelihood of post-suspension convictions was significantly affected by the frequency of pre-suspension convictions, but not by the frequency of pre-suspension crashes. Two changes in the DIP are suggested in the concluding section of the report. The first change involves re-instituting warning letters, given their demonstrated cost effectiveness in the driver improvement literature. The second change involves the assignment of greater weight to crashes in triggering license actions, based on the regression findings. Details: Salem, OR: Oregon Department of Transportation, 2007. 122p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 28, 2014 at: http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TP_RES/docs/reports/2007/dmvdriver.pdf Year: 2007 Country: United States URL: http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TP_RES/docs/reports/2007/dmvdriver.pdf Shelf Number: 132187 Keywords: Drivers License SuspensionTraffic Offenses |
Author: Salas, Mario Title: Driven by Dollars: a State-by-State Analysis of Driver's License Suspension Laws for Failure to Pay Court Debt Summary: Across the country, millions of people have lost their licenses simply because they are too poor to pay, effectively depriving them of reliable, lawful transportation necessary to get to and from work, take children to school, keep medical appointments, care for ill or disabled family members, or, paradoxically, to meet their financial obligations to the courts. State laws suspending or revoking driver's licenses to punish failure to pay court costs and fines are ubiquitous, despite the growing consensus that this kind of policy is unfair and counterproductive. Forty-three states and the District of Columbia use driver's license suspension to coerce payment of government debts arising out of traffic or criminal convictions. Most state statutes contain no safeguards to distinguish between people who intentionally refuse to pay and those who default due to poverty, punishing both groups equally harshly as if they were equally blameworthy. License-for-payment systems punish people-not for any crime or traffic violation, but for unpaid debts. Typically, when a state court finds a person guilty of a crime or traffic violation, it orders the person to pay a fine or other penalty along with other administrative court costs and fees. If the person does not pay on time, the court or motor vehicle agency can-and in some states, must-punish the person by suspending his or her driver's license until the person pays in full or makes other payment arrangements with the court. By cutting people off from jobs, license-for-payment systems create a self-defeating vicious cycle. A state suspends the license even though a person cannot afford to pay, which then makes the person less likely to pay once he or she cannot drive legally to work. The person now faces an unenviable choice: drive illegally and risk further punishment (including incarceration in some states), or stay home and forgo the needs of his or her family. In this way, license-for-payment systems create conditions akin to modern-day debtor's prisons. Despite their widespread use, license-for-payment systems are increasingly drawing critical scrutiny from motor vehicle safety professionals, anti-poverty and civil rights advocates, and policymakers. New state-based advocacy campaigns across the country have produced reforms by way of the courts, legislatures, and executive agencies. To provide national context for these efforts, we analyzed license-for-payment systems in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to generate conclusions about the prevalence and uses of license-for-payment. Our key findings include: - 43 states (and D.C.) suspend driver's licenses because of unpaid court debt;6 - Only four states require an ability-to-pay or "willfulness" determination before a license can be suspended for nonpayment; - 19 states-almost 40% of the nation-have laws imposing mandatory suspension upon nonpayment of court debt; and, - Virtually all states that suspend for unpaid court debt do so indefinitely, with rules that prevent reinstatement until payment is satisfied. All over the country, people are struggling to earn a livelihood and meet the needs of their families while their licenses remain indefinitely suspended because of court debt they cannot pay. At a time of historic income and wealth inequality, states should urgently reexamine whether the policy's immense costs to individuals, communities, and states overwhelm its benefits. At a minimum, license-for-payment states should review their policies to ensure their systems provide due process, with adequate safeguards in place to make certain no person is punished because of poverty. Details: Charlottesville, VA: Legal Aid Justice Center, 2017. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 8, 2018 at: https://www.justice4all.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Driven-by-Dollars.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.justice4all.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Driven-by-Dollars.pdf Shelf Number: 151445 Keywords: Court DebtDebtors PrisonDrivers License SuspensionPayment of FinesTraffic FinesTraffic Infractions |