Addressing Collisions Involving Unlicensed Drivers
and Drivers with Suspended or Revoked Licenses: Appendix 3
Profiles of State and Local Agency Implementation Efforts: Strategy 2.1 B2
Emphasis Area
2.1—Keeping Unlicensed/Suspended/Revoked Drivers Off the Road
Objective
2.1 B—Restrict Mobility Through License Plate Modification or Removal
Strategy Name and Number
Impound and Destroy License Plate (Strategy 2.1 B2)
Agency and Jurisdiction
State of Minnesota
Problem(s) Identified
Unlicensed/Suspended/Revoked (U/S/R) drivers are greatly over represented in fatal crashes.
Goals and Objectives Established
Immediate removal of license plates and vehicle registration cancellation of vehicles operated by U/S/R drivers could reduce U/S/R driving and, hence, high-risk driving.
Description of Strategy Implemented
To discourage U/S/R driving, the license plate of any vehicle in which a U/S/R driver is apprehended may also be impounded and destroyed, regardless of ownership. Furthermore, the license plates of all vehicles registered to the apprehended U/S/R driver may be impounded and destroyed. A legal owner who is not the offender may re-register the vehicle at no charge but must sign a statement promising not to make the vehicle available to the offender in the future. Previously if the vehicle were again loaned to the offender, the registration would be cancelled. The law has been changed, so that one may no longer avoid registration cancellation by claiming that it was not known that the driver was U/S/R. If a vehicle is loaned to a U/S/R driver, registration is cancelled and the vehicle will be required to use a special series license for a minimum of one year. The only exception is if, prior to detection, the vehicle has been reported taken without permission, in which case there must be a police report to that effect.
The law must be implemented administratively. Judicial implementation is not effective. In addition, notation should be made on the driver record that the vehicle plate has been destroyed. Such notations facilitate rapid identification of offenders, as well as evaluation of the program's impact.
Summary of Implementation Effort (Lessons Learned)
This strategy requires enabling legislation. It was implemented in Minnesota in 1988 but was administered through the courts. It was enforced in only 5 percent of the cases in which it was required. In January 1991 implementation shifted to driver licensing and enforcement, and enforcement was extended to any vehicle in which a U/S/R driver was apprehended, regardless of ownership. There was an immediate 12-fold increase in its imposition.
In 1988 Minnesota implemented legislation whereby multiple DUI offenders must surrender the license plates of all vehicles registered in their name. Prior to 1988, the law applied only to persons driving without a valid license. The law was originally administered through the courts, but of those who should have had their registration cancelled and plates impounded, only about 5 percent did so. Beginning in 1991, enforcement moved to the Department of Public Safety to be handled administratively. The arresting officer has the authority to impound and destroy the plates, or, failing to do so, the plates can be seized and destroyed by the Department of Public Safety. With the program implemented administratively by the Department of Public Safety rather than by the courts, the proportion of eligible offenders required to surrender their license plates increased to 64 percent.
Summary of the Results 1
In an evaluation based on the first 21 months of the program, the offenders were categorized as:
- eligible offenders who were not required to surrender their license plates
- offenders whose plates were confiscated and destroyed by the arresting officer
- offenders who were ordered by mail from the Department of Public Safety to surrender their plates to a local law enforcement agency
Three-time violators experiencing license plate confiscation by the arresting officer had the lowest subsequent recidivism rates, followed by those whose licenses plates were impounded by mail. Those whose plates were not impounded had about twice the recidivism rates of those experiencing immediate impoundment by the police (at 12- and 24-months, 16 percent and 26 percent, vs. 8 percent and 13 percent, respectively). Reductions for those notified by mail were similar and also significant. For violators with four prior DUIs, there were no differences between impoundment by police and impoundment by mail order, but both groups had lower recidivism than did violators whose plates were not impounded.
The 12-fold increase in the law's implementation when enforcement was moved from the courts to the Department of Public Safety and Enforcement, argues strongly for administrative enforcement. It is also important that the law apply to whatever vehicle the offender is driving, regardless of ownership, as well as any and all vehicles registered to the offender. License plate impoundment is a relatively low cost measure that has been shown to be significantly effective in reducing U/S/R driving.
Contact Person and Information
Joe Bowler
Driver & Vehicle Services
445 Minnesota Street Suite 160
St. Paul, MN 55101-5160
Tel: 651-215-1532
Pager: 651-610-3114
Fax: 651-282-5512
Email: Joe.Bowler@state.mn.us
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