Transportation Before and During Suspension |
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Prior to the license suspension for the current DWI/OWI, Milwaukee participants drove an average of 214 miles a week, and New Jersey participants drove an average of 181 miles. Milwaukee residents tended to have longer commutes to work and to drive more miles on the job, and New Jersey participants drove a few more recreational miles. Almost all participants in both sites drove themselves to work before their suspensions. Nine of the 16 Milwaukee subjects said that they were required to drive on the job, but only six of 21 New Jersey participants were required to do so. As noted earlier in this report, for a $40 fee and with proof of financial responsibility, Wisconsin first-time offenders can obtain an occupational license that allows driving within certain designated times and for specified purposes, up to 60 hours a week. Although the occupational license is supposed to indicate the counties in which driving is allowed, it was reported that the Division of Motor Vehicles allows the offender to designate the whole state. Due in large part to the availability of the occupational license, few members of the Milwaukee groups needed to make significant changes in their modes of transportation to deal with the suspension. Most commented that the driving hours designated in their occupational license accommodated all of their necessary driving and most discretionary driving. However, some admitted that they had driven outside the terms of their occupational license. A few complained that they were not able to anticipate all their driving needs at the time they applied for the occupational license. Although the license can be changed, this costs an additional $40. Of the five participants who did not obtain an occupational license, four gave cost as the reason. They explained that it was not only the cost of the license itself, but also the cost of the insurance. Two women relied upon live-in boyfriends for transportation. The third lived with her parents in a small town and could walk nearly everywhere she needed to go, or ask her parents to drive her when she could not walk. The fourth lived and worked in downtown Milwaukee, and public transportation met most of her transportation needs. Two of the four women who did not get an occupational license admitted to doing a limited amount of driving while suspended; one said that she drove exactly four times during her suspension, and the other said that she drove occasionally when she could not get somewhere by bus or taxi. The man who did not get an occupational license basically ignored his suspension; he reported that he had no fear of detection. None of the Milwaukee participants (including those who did not get an occupational permit) complained that the license suspension caused insurmountable difficulties in getting to work or keeping his or her job, although several took great pains to conceal their conviction from employers, for fear of being fired. Nearly every person in the New Jersey groups made major changes in his or her life to accommodate being without a license. At the time of the focus groups, the licenses of 15 of the 21 participants were still suspended. With regard to transportation to and from work, only three persons (all with a reinstated license) had resumed driving to work. Most (12) usually rode with others. Six were using public transportation, and two were walking or riding a bike at least some of the time. Three of the reinstated drivers were minors who had served a 30-day suspension. The suspension affected the occupations of several New Jersey participants. For example, one man had been a lumberyard delivery driver. As he could no longer drive, his employer had assigned other work to him. Another man had been a long distance truck driver. Having lost his Commercial Driver's License, and being uninsurable, he was painting houses, working with a crew that transported him to and from job sites. Two other men were unemployed because they could no longer get to work. A young man who worked full-time and was finishing college had put college on hold during his suspension. He could take public transportation to work, but not to college. The three-time offender who had been suspended for ten years worked with a floor-installation crew who picked him up. He hoped to buy a truck and go into business for himself after reinstatement. Some New Jersey offenders had been very resourceful in dealing with their suspensions. A female marketing executive who made sales calls around the state had hired chauffeurs to drive her car, through an ad in a local newspaper headlined "Driving Miss Daisy." She also used car services for errands and related how mortified she was when a car service sent a stretch limousine to pick her up at the supermarket. A nurse, who worked at a hospital some distance from her home, had reorganized her working hours so that she worked long shifts on three consecutive days, staying at the hospital between shifts. A Java programmer who maintained a web site for a major international company had patched together a network of rides, busses, and car services that got him practically everywhere he needed to go. He said it took an enormous amount of planning, and his cell phone was vital to bail him out when he got stuck. A man in the process of getting a divorce had had to move back in with his wife to get closer to work for the duration of his suspension, and he was eager to move out again. One New Jersey woman, who worked in New York, discovered that public transportation to the city worked well. She liked it so much that she may continue to use it after her license is reinstated. She said that one benefit is that she can have a few drinks after work without worrying about driving home. |