TEMPORARY VEHICLE IMPOUNDMENT IN OHIO - A REPLICATION AND CONFIRMATION

Driving while suspended by individuals who have been convicted of an i mpaired driving offense is a significant highway safety problem. Such offenders present four times the risk of involvement in a fatal crash at a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) over 0.10. A previous report by the authors demonstrated that a vehicle immobilization program in Fra nklin County (Columbus), Ohio, significantly reduced driving-under-the -influence (DUI) recidivism rates for multiple DUI offenders. This stu dy evaluated a somewhat different application of the same law in Hamil ton County (Cincinnati), Ohio, where vehicles were impounded rather th an immobilized, and obtained similar results-a reduction in repeat DUI offenses by multiple offenders both while their vehicles were being h eld by the police and after they were returned to the offenders. (C) 1 998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.