Commercial Driver’s License Prosecution, Adjudication, and Data Transmission

The Kentucky Transportation Center research team examined law enforcement and adjudication of traffic offenses committed by commercial driver’s license holders. The objectives were to identify states that would provide the data, collect information about their court systems, analyze enforcement and/or adjudication data, and make some general observations about trends. Many state agencies were not able to provide their traffic offense data and therefore, the team focused primarily on data from Kentucky and Washington State. The study focused on enforcement trends and adjudication of safety-related offenses. Overall, conviction rates remain higher than dismissal and amended rates. In recent years, dismissal and amended rates have increased faster than conviction rates. This concerning trend increases the chances that traffic safety could be negatively impacted from reduced CMV driver compliance. Among traffic violations, conviction rates remain higher for minor traffic infractions than criminal traffic violations. However, lagging conviction rates for both traffic infractions and criminal traffic violations continue to raise potential safety concerns