Public HealthCriminologyCriminal LiabilityInjury SurveillanceVehicle Safety EngineeringLicensingRoad SafetyTraffic EnforcementTraffic Injury PreventionTraffic SafetyTransportation SafetyCustomary SanctionsDriver Licensing PoliciesImpaired DrivingRoad Traffic CrashesSanctionsSuspensionsTraffic Accident RiskVehicle Impoundment
Five years of fatal traffic data (FARS 1993-1997) were analyzed to learn more about the license status of drivers involved in fatal crashes. This data set included 278,078 drivers who were involved in 183,749 fatal crashes. Of particular interest were drivers in three aberrant categories: (1) drivers with an invalid license (i.e., a suspended, revoked, expired, or canceled/denied license) - 20,596 (7.4%); (2) drivers with no known license - 10,228 (3.7%); and drivers of unknown license status - 7,632 (2.7%). It was found that 20% of all fatal crashes - one fatal crash in five - involves at least one improperly licensed driver as defined above. Further analyses sought to show the involvement of these aberrant drivers in fatal crashes as a function of several variables: age, sex, vehicle type, previous driving while intoxicated (DWIs), previous suspensions and revocations, and so forth. A brief review of the literature considered three vehicle sanctions or modifications that have been developed to reduce unlawful driving: vehicle impoundment, electronic driver licenses, and ignition interlocks.