California Ranks Fourth Among All States in Percent of Unlicensed Drivers Involved in Deadly Crashes.

Business Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 12, 2000

California has the fourth highest percentage of improperly licensed drivers involved in fatal crashes, according to a new study released Wednesday by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Of California drivers involved in fatal crashes, 22 percent had an invalid license, meaning their license was suspended, revoked or expired, they had no known license or they had an unknown license status. Nationally, the number of all improperly licensed drivers involved in fatal crashes is 13.8 percent.

The study, titled "Unlicensed to Kill," examined five years of traffic data from 1993 through 1997. Drivers without a valid license are involved in 20 percent of all fatal crashes in the nation, the study shows.

"This means one out of every five fatal crashes involves at least one improperly licensed driver," said Steven Bloch, Ph.D., senior traffic safety researcher at the Automobile Club of Southern California, the nation's largest AAA affiliate.

For the period analyzed, 42,049 people were killed in crashes involving at least one driver who was improperly licensed. "These numbers indicate that improperly licensed drivers are endangering the safety of all motorists," added Bloch.

In California, explained Bloch, there are far more drivers with suspended or revoked licenses (62 percent) than unlicensed drivers. "Since California has a very high DUI arrest rate per capita compared to other states, the state also suspends and revokes a large number of licenses. Many of these drivers continue to drive with invalid licenses."

This large number of improperly licensed drivers is particularly troubling in light of a California DMV study which estimated that California drivers with suspended or revoked licenses are 3.7 times more likely to be involved in fatal crashes than drivers with valid licenses.

According to the AAA Foundation study, there are two proven effective countermeasures that can be used against improperly licensed drivers: vehicle impoundment and ignition interlocks. California employs both of these countermeasures. However, problems in applying such measures have limited their effectiveness.

"While more than 100,000 California drivers have their vehicles impounded annually, it's unclear how widely and consistently this countermeasure is implemented. Some jurisdictions apparently don't use it at all," said Bloch.

In California, ignition interlock was a required countermeasure against multiple DUI offenders from 1994 to 1999. But few judges -- about 15 percent -- employed it, according to Bloch. To improve the system, the law was changed effective July 1, 1999, to offer drivers an incentive to use the device. Multiple offense drivers may now reduce their license suspension from two years to one by employing the device. "We anticipate that this approach will sharply increase the use of ignition interlocks," said Bloch.

According to the national data analyzed in the study, improperly licensed drivers are more likely than properly licensed drivers to be young, male and involved with driving under the influence or hit-and-run crashes. They are also more likely to have previously received three or more license suspensions or revocations.

The survey was conducted for the AAA Foundation by Lindsay Griffin, III and Sandra DeLaZerda of the Texas Transportation Institute. The study is available on the Foundation's Web site at www.aaafoundation.org.

The Automobile Club of Southern California, the largest affiliate of the AAA, has been serving members since 1900. Today, the Auto Club's members benefit by the organization's roadside assistance, insurance services, travel agency, financial products, automotive pricing, buying and financing programs, automotive testing and analysis, trip planning services, highway and transportation safety programs and legislative advocacy. Information about these products and services is available on the Auto Club's Web site at www.aaa-calif.com.