A primary mission of law enforcement is to provide society with a safe and secure highway system by reducing traffic crashes, injuries, and deaths. This is accomplished through fair, impartial, and reasonable enforcement of traffic laws. However, media reports detailing serious crashes involving drivers operating on suspended or revoked licenses is frustrating to traffic safety officials and the public.

Driving with a suspended or revoked license is not a new phenomenon. Currently, there exists a general disregard for compliance with suspension or revocation orders. In addition, operating with a suspended or revoked license is an “undetectable” offense to the eye of law enforcement officers because no clues exist to draw attention to the violator. Officers call this an “invisible traffic violation.” Speeding, non-use of safety belts, or driving while impaired can be clearly seen by law enforcement officers, but driving with a suspended or revoked license is undetectable unless the driver commits an observable traffic violation that causes the vehicle to be stopped. To justify a stop, enforcement personnel need personal knowledge that a driver with suspended or revoked license is operating a vehicle. Unfortunately, as more states pass legislation invoking administrative license sanctions, the number of drivers operating with suspended or revoked licenses will continue to grow.

Some state motor vehicle officials have estimated that almost 80 percent of persons with suspended or revoked licenses are continuing to operate motor vehicles. This revelation prompted a nationwide research project by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) to investigate what law enforcement agencies were doing to enforce suspension and revocation sanctions.

NSA reviewed several innovative programs that focused on the operator of the vehicle. A particularly effective enforcement program, called the Hot Sheet program, is being used by both the Ohio and Florida Highway Patrols.

The law enforcement agencies obtain computer printouts containing the names of sanctioned drivers from the Department of Motor Vehicles. Officers highlight the names of the most chronic offenders and then sort them by patrol area, ZIP code, or street location (using what worked best in a particular area). The lists, or Hot Sheets, are then distributed to patrol units in these areas. Usually the individual Hot Sheets are one page of the most flagrant violators in specific patrol areas.

This program requires minimum amount of resources, and it works. Patrol personnel find the Hot Sheet program to be useful and informative. When officers receive their Hot Sheet, they frequently saw names they recognized.

After 6 months of working with the Hot Sheet program, officers involved in the pilot test program increased arrests for revocation or suspension by 14 percent. One driver actually pleaded with officers to have his name removed from the list because he was scared to drive. This program proved effective in reducing the number of individuals driving after their licenses were suspended or revoked.

Following the successes experienced in the two pilot test sites, Ohio County, West Virginia and Salt Lake County, Utah, NSA developed Guidelines for a Suspended or Revoked Operator Enforcement Program. It is available from NHTSA and includes a step-by-step procedure that describes how to decide whether a problem exists; how to evaluate personnel and equipment needs; how to plan and start the program; how to evaluate the program; and how to gain community support. Further, the guide contains some effective vehicle license plate markings and vehicle immobilization programs that have proved effective.

For a copy of Guidelines for a Suspended or Revoked Operator Enforcement Program, write to:

Media and Marketing Division

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

NTS-21

400 Seventh Street, SW

Washington, DC 20590

Fax: (202) 493-2062