Earlier this week, we began a discussion about DUI recidivism. We observed that while it is surprisingly easy for responsible adults to be arrested for a single, unintentional and ultimately accidental drunk driving incident due to the ways alcohol metabolizes in the body, repeat drunk driving offenders pose a significant threat to public safety.
We also noted that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is directly tasked with ensuring the relative safety of the nation’s roadway travelers and that this agency has a particular interest in the matter of repeat drunk driving offenders. Recently, the NHTSA released valuable research related to this issue that will hopefully give communities across the U.S. inspiration to approach repeat drunk driving offenses in new ways.
Specifically, the NHTSA released the results of a study conducted by the Preusser Research Group. This study examines the impact of 24/7 transdermal alcohol monitoring bracelets on the potential drunk driving behaviors of past offenders. According to the study, repeat offenses were virtually nonexistent when the bracelets were in use for at least 90 days. They also delayed the expected timeline of repeat offenses which did occur.
Employing the use of these monitoring devices may not completely insulate the public from the safety threat of repeat drunk drivers. However, this study indicates that this model is one that is certainly worth considering in the interest of public safety. The use of these bracelets seems to be teaching offenders that if they accidentally drive drunk once, they need to be far more careful. If they drive drunk more than once, they need to take complete responsibility for preventing a repeat offense.
Source: PRNewswire, “NHTSA Releases New Study on DUI Recidivism,” Alcohol Monitoring Systems, May 14, 2015
