Prior License Suspensions

Cover Page

Technical Report

Technical Summary

Acknowledgements

List of Tables

Introduction

Study Sites

Observational Study

Focus Group Research

Conclusions

References

 

Five of the 16 Milwaukee participants had prior license suspensions, compared to six of the 21 New Jersey participants. Although offenders with prior convictions for DWI/OWI in the past ten years were excluded from the focus groups, some of the prior suspensions were for earlier alcohol and drug violations.

In Milwaukee, the prior license suspensions were based on an underage drinking violation unrelated to driving (1), accumulated traffic violations (2), and disturbing the peace (1). Another participant was under suspension for a non-traffic-related drug conviction at the time of her OWI arrest.

Four New Jersey participants had been suspended for previous DWI convictions. This included one participant who had had three DWI convictions, with the latest over ten years ago. He recently attended IDRC as the final step in the process of restoring his license. Now 39 years old, he remarked that he had driven legally for only three years since he was 16. Another man, convicted of DWI as a juvenile, was suspended an additional two years when he had a crash while driving under the original suspension. His license had been reinstated before his current DWI. Two participants had received suspensions for other traffic violations; their license also had been reinstated before the current DWI arrest.

 

Text Box: Prior License Suspensions Among Milwaukee Participants The 37 year-old woman who crashed into a building had been suspended for five years for a prior drug offense and was still under suspension when she was arrested for the current OWI. ********** An unemployed 20 year-old woman said she had been suspended for underage drinking when she was 15 years old. She had to wait for her suspension to end before she could get a permit to take driver education classes. ********** A 29 year-old financial analyst had previously been suspended for accumulated traffic violations. He said he did not drive during that suspension. ********** A graphic designer, age 26, had had a license suspension in his college days for disturbing the peace. He did not reinstate his license for four or five years because he did not have the money and did not own a car, although he did some driving during the suspension. He remarked, “The only problem with not having a license was that it interfered with my drinking.” ********** A 50 year-old construction worker said he had been suspended for accumulated traffic violations while in college in Illinois. He ignored the suspension and never bothered to reinstate his Illinois license. Years later, he obtained a Wisconsin license.