Relationship between Blood Alcohol Concentration Level and Court Sanction Severity in Drunk Driving Cases: Final Report to the Legislature of the State of California

摘要

AB 144 (Naylor, 1985) requires that the court consider a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .20% or more as a special factor to consider in enhancing penalties when sentencing drunk drivers. The final report summarizes the tabulations of sanction severity by BAC level for first and second DUI offenders, both prior and subsequent to the enactment of AB 144 and by the offender's license status at the time of the DUI arrest (valid vs suspended license). Only DUI offenders with reported BAC levels were selected for analysis. (Because of court omissions and/or unavailability of BAC information, only 42-43% of all DUI convictions contained the offender's blood alcohol concentration level.) The results indicate that first offenders with high BAC levels received the jail sanctions more frequently than did those with low BAC levels, while the low BAC drivers more likely received the restriction sanctions than did high BAC offenders. An evaluation of the largest counties showed wide variation in the use of these sanctions regardless of BAC level and time period (pre/post AB 144). Most of the invalidly licensed first offenders received the jail/program sanction. The 6-month license suspension sanction was not often used by courts for first offenders (2-3% and 15-18% for valid and invalid licensed offenders, respectively).