LICENSE PLATE CONFISCATION FOR PERSISTENT ALCOHOL-IMPAIRED DRIVERS

Minnesota cancels the registrations and confiscates the license plates of vehicles driven by repeat drinking drivers in a procedure which pr ior research has demonstrated to be effective in reducing subsequent r ecidivism. The research reported here concerns the problems experience d in the functioning of this law. Samples of officials and repeat driv ing under the influence (DUI) offenders were interviewed in Minnesota and in the neighboring state of Iowa, chosen for comparison because it s laws also provide for plate confiscation, but using a judicial rathe r than an administrative procedure. In addition, representative sample s of the driving and vehicle registration records of convicted drunk d rivers and of routine traffic offenders were analyzed. The research fo und that evasion of plate impoundment orders by drivers, though appare ntly easy to accomplish, appeared to be rare. However, the orders were themselves not issued in a large proportion of cases where they were prescribed by statute, potentially weakening the effectiveness of the law. The reasons, with possible countermeasures, are explored in this report.