Study of recidivism rates among drivers administratively sanctioned by the New Jersey motor vehicle commission : final report, December 2009.

683255622Final report.PDFTech ReportFHWA NJ-2009-019RecidivismDriver licensingDriver licensesConfiscationRevocationSuspensionsTraffic violationsMoving violationsNew JerseyNew Jersey. Dept. of TransportationCarnegie, Jon A.Strawderman, William EdwardLi, WeiAlan M. Voorhees Transportation CenterNew Jersey. Dept. of Transportation. Bureau of ResearchUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationNTL-OPERATIONS AND TRAFFIC CONTROLS-OPERATIONS AND TRAFFIC CONTROLSNTL-LAWS AND REGULATIONS-State Laws and RegulationsNTL-PLANNING AND POLICY-PLANNING AND POLICYNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-SAFETY AND SECURITYUS Transportation CollectionThe purpose of this study was to examine the current state of practice related to driver improvement countermeasuresused in the United States and to assess the effectiveness of New Jersey\ue2\u20ac\u2122s negligent driver interventions. As part of thestudy, the research team conducted a national literature review and a survey of motor vehicle agency policies in otherstates to document the current state of practice related to driver improvement programs and the current state ofknowledge regarding the effectiveness of specific countermeasures. In addition, the research team obtained andanalyzed an extensive longitudinal database of driver history records to examine the effectiveness of variouscountermeasures used in New Jersey to address negligent driver behavior relative to violation and crash recidivism.This study provides important evidence that New Jersey\ue2\u20ac\u2122s program of negligent driver countermeasures is effective atreducing violation and crash recidivism among most negligent driver subgroups in the two-year period after MotorVehicle Commission (MVC) intervention. Of the countermeasures used in New Jersey, the combination of licensesuspension with one-year probation resulted in the greatest overall reduction in both mean violation and crash rates.New Jersey\ue2\u20ac\u2122s driver re-education classes, which are accompanied by a three-point credit against accumulated demeritpoints and one-year probation, resulted in the lowest mean violation rate reduction. Point advisory notices, which forexperienced drivers are accompanied by a concurrent assessment of negligent driver fees (MVC \ue2\u20ac\u153insurancesurcharges\ue2\u20ac?), appear to be an effective early intervention, producing substantial reductions in both violation and crashrecidivism among all driver subgroups except teen drivers who are not assessed negligent driver fees at the time ofnotice issuance.Several policy recommendations can be derived from this research. First, with regard to teen drivers, considerationshould be given to whether or not a \ue2\u20ac\u153zero-tolerance\ue2\u20ac? policy for motor vehicle violations and at-fault crashes should beapplied to teen drivers. It may be appropriate to impose license suspension as an earlier intervention if the reformsalready enacted do not result in meaningful change in teen driver safety outcomes. Second, MVC should considerstreamlining the suspension program to make it more straightforward and easier to administer. Thirdly, considerationshould be given to reviewing and reforming, New Jersey\ue2\u20ac\u2122s driver monitoring system and/or plea bargaining practices toensure that repeat traffic offenders are not able to use zero-point plea bargaining to avoid corrective actions thatimprove safety outcomes