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Why Do We Need DUI Courts?

by Chuck Peña
Former Executive Director, American Council on Alcoholism

Since the early 1980s, there has been a gradual and steady decline in fatalities resulting from drunk driving. In 1998, alcohol-related traffic fatalities were at a record low (just under 16,000), a 37 percent reduction since 1982 (when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – NHTSA – first started compiling national statistics on alcohol-related fatalities). Prevention programs and education, tougher laws, and stricter penalties have all contributed to reducing fatalities by changing the general public’s attitudes and behavior about drunk driving. That’s the good news.

But the bad news is that drunk driving is a persistent problem. And the so-called "hardcore" drunk driver represents the bulk of the problem. The Century Council defines hardcore drunk drivers "as individuals who fit one or more of the following criteria: (a) drive with a high blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.15 or above, (b) who do so repeatedly, as demonstrated by having more than one drunk driving arrest, and (c) who are highly resistant to changing their behavior in spite of previous punishment."

According to the Century Council, 59% of drivers involved in alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 1998 were hardcore drunk drivers. About one-third of all drivers arrested or convicted of drunk driving each year are repeat offenders. The average BAC among fatally injured drivers was 0.17, which is also the average BAC nationally for persons arrested for drunk driving. And drivers with a BAC of 0.15 or above are 200 times more likely to be involved in afatal crash than the average non-drinking driver.

These drivers represent the core and most difficult part of the drunk driving problem. The traffic safety community has long recognized this, but traditional means of prevention have had little or no effect. We know that education programs, license suspension or revocation, and other sanctions do not deter these drivers. And even jail time does not stop them from drinking and driving after they are released from jail (and the sad truth is that even drunk drivers who kill innocent victims spend relatively little or no time in jail).

Why doesn’t education or punishment seem to work with the hardcore drunk driver? Because the root cause of their drunk driving is their drinking problem. Until that problem is recognized and treated, the vast majority of repeat offense drunk drivers will continue their pattern of drinking and driving, unfortunately all too often with deadly and tragic consequences. Alcoholism and chronic alcohol abuse treatment is the critical missing component to the hardcore drunk driving problem and stopping the hardcore drunk driver

The highly successful drug courts offer a model for dealing with high-BAC and repeat offense drunk driving. We can learn from the success of the drug courts and apply the concepts used to address the issue of hardcore drunk driving. How? By making treatment a central and integral part of the solution. We know from experience that treatment-based drug courts work. We know that people can recover from alcoholism and addiction. It’s time to take this proven concept of addressing drug addiction that incorporates treatment to help people recover, and apply it directly to alcoholism and alcohol abuse as it relates to drunk driving.

The basic approach of drug courts dealing with illegal drug use is just as meaningful to the hardcore drunk driving problem:

• Reduce recidivism and substance abuse among nonviolent adult and juvenile offenders
• Increase the likelihood of successful rehabilitation through early, continuous, and intensive judicially supervised treatment, mandatory periodic drug testing, and the use of graduated sanctions and other rehabilitative services.

And the 10 key components of drug courts apply to dealing with the hardcore drunk driving problem:

• Integrate alcohol treatment services with justice system case processing
• Nonadversarial approach, prosecution and defense counsel promote public safety while protecting participants’ due process rights
• Participants are identified early and promptly placed in the program
• Provide access to a continuum of alcohol treatment and rehabilitation services
• Abstinence is monitored by frequent testing
• Coordinated strategy governs court responses to participants’ compliance
• Ongoing judicial interaction with each participant is essential
• Monitoring and evaluation measure the achievement of program goals and gauge effectiveness
• Continuing interdisciplinary education promotes effective court planning, implementation, and operations
• Forging partnerships with public agencies and community-based organizations generates local support and enhances court program effectiveness.

Some drug courts already include drunk driving as part of their docket. And NHTSA has funded a DUI court project specifically for repeat offenders in Phoenix, AZ. This is a step in the right direction. But we need a larger and more comprehensive effort to develop and establish DUI treatment courts across the country.

We need to understand that alcoholism and alcohol abuse is a significant part of the drunk driving problem. And we need to recognize that treatment works. If we do not treat the problem, then the seemingly endless and deadly circle of drunk driving will not be broken. If we’re going to stop the carnage of repeat offender drunk driving, we need to go beyond traditional prevention through education and education. We need to break the pattern of repeated drunk driving before the offender kills or injures an innocent victim. We need to move beyond designated drivers, public education, stricter enforcement, and harsher penalties to effectively deal with the hardcore drunk driver. We need to treat the problem. That means using the broad range of available treatment programs, services, and approaches – from the AA 12-step program to long-term residential treatment centers to pharmacological treatment such as naltrexone, just to name a few – to deal with the core problem of alcoholism and alcohol abuse as it relates to drunk driving. We need prevention through intervention and treatment. Whether as part of an existing drug court or as a separate court, DUI courts can provide the needed intervention to get hardcore drunk drivers into the necessary treatment as a way to prevent hardcore drunk driving.

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This web page was created by the American Council on Alcoholism 
to serve as a resource for information about DUI courts.

This page was last updated on 4-30-2003.