Book Description

To ensure that a driver's license is revoked promptly when a test shows an alcohol concentration of 0.10 or more, regardless of court outcome or plea bargaining on the criminal charge, Minnesota adopted an administrative revocation law 1976, adding to the conventional implied consent revocation for refusing to take the test. This law was unique to Minnesota until 1981 when two other jurisdictions passed similar laws. In 1982 three more, and in 1983 thirteen more states established similar prompt revocation on test result systems. The author describes the Minnesota law as amended in 1982 and discusses legal and constitutional issues. Effect on apprehension rates, swiftness of sanction, deterrence and perceived risk are analyzed. The author concludes that a two-track DWI control system employing both prompt administrative driver license sanctions on one track and conventional court action on a related but not directly connected parallel criminal track enhances deterrence through more certain, swift penalty, perceived by drivers as severe.