GHSA Policy on Impaired Driving

Excerpted from GHSA Policies & Priorities

Impaired driving is a serious problem threatening the safety of our nation’s highways. There are, however, methods of combating this crisis, particularly in the areas of law enforcement, legislation, training programs and evaluation and treatment for offenders.

GHSA supports laws setting the Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) level for driving under the influence (DUI) at .08, and acknowledges the benefits of laws setting the per se BAC level for DUI .05, for drivers not already covered by stricter standards. GHSA recommends that states set their per se BAC at .05 when practical and feasible.

GHSA encourages states to adopt zero tolerance drug impairment laws for illicit drugs, and for all drugs (barring legal prescriptions and other legal use) for drivers under age 21. Currently available research has not identified a scientifically sound illegal per se limit for marijuana, or for many other drugs.

GHSA urges states to amend statutes to provide separate and distinct sanctions for alcohol- and drug-impaired driving that could be applied individually or in combination to a single case. States should adopt enhanced penalties for multiple (poly-) drug use (including alcohol) while driving as the combination of alcohol and other drugs should be considered an aggravated offense.

Detection of impaired drivers is an important component of any impaired driving system.

New technologies can help streamline impaired driving enforcement and adjudication. Passive alcohol sensors, preliminary breath and saliva test devices, roadside evidential testing instruments and in-car video cameras have all been shown to be effective tools for identifying impaired drivers. GHSA supports the use of electronic warrants and criminal justice data systems to expedite and improve law enforcement operations generally, and drug impaired driving investigations in particular.

GHSA supports the use of these devices technologies and encourages states to enact enabling legislation allowing their use. GHSA encourages industry partners to continue developing and improving testing devices and other technologies so that drug impaired driving investigations can eventually mirror the efficiency and affordability of alcohol impaired driving investigations. 

GHSA encourages all states to provide increased training to law enforcement on identifying drugged drivers. GHSA supports the use of the NHTSA Drug Evaluation and Classification (DEC) training program that trains Drug Recognition Experts (DRE) to detect and apprehend drug-impaired drivers. As a means of expanding the enforcement of drug-impaired driving laws, GHSA calls on states to train officers in the 16-hour Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) program. GHSA supports the use of law enforcement phlebotomy programs.

States should invest in necessary forensic testing laboratory staff, equipment and training. GHSA urges the federal government, states and the private sector to collaborate to develop and adopt standard protocols, toxicology metrics and procedures for forensic testing laboratories to use in identifying drugs that impair driving.

High-risk impaired drivers require closely tailored sanctions, supervision and treatment to prevent recidivism. GHSA encourages a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary, individualized approach to impaired driving criminal justice that identifies the root causes of offender behavior and determinates appropriate consequences, including evidence-based treatment.

Prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys, other court officials and others in the criminal justice system should work collaboratively to ensure both the public’s and the offender’s interests are served.

States should provide increased training for prosecutors and judges to help in the successful prosecution of drug-impaired drivers.

GHSA supports repeat impaired driving laws that provides that individuals convicted of second or subsequent offenses receive: a) at least thirty days of community service or five days of imprisonment; b) at least a one year or either suspension of driving privileges, required use of an ignition interlock and/or participation in a 24/7 sobriety program; and c) assessment and treatment. Third and subsequent offenders should receive at least 60 days of community service or 10 days of imprisonment.

GHSA supports prompt administrative license suspension or revocation for persons arrested for driving under the influence (DUI), refusing to take sobriety tests or failing such tests. GHSA urges all states to enact such provisions to reduce the instances of impaired driving. GHSA encourages States to consider expanding their existing Administrative License Revocation (ALR) laws or enacting new ALR laws for drug-impaired drivers who fail or refuse a drug test.

GHSA encourages states to enact penalties that will deter convicted DUI offenders from driving such as plate or registration confiscation, vehicle impoundment or immobilization or ignition interlock devices and vehicle seizure.

Ignition interlock devices have been found to reduce impaired driving recidivism. GHSA supports the use of ignition interlock devices by states for convicted or administratively sanctioned first time offenders and strongly encourages states to enact interlock laws for that purpose. Offenders should be granted access to ignition interlocks as soon as possible, including between arrest and court proceedings. Ignition interlock programs should be coupled with assessment and treatment programs to address potential underlying substance abuse issues. Programs should be designed to keep offenders that violate program rules in the program or under other supervision. Graduation from required ignition interlock use should be based on program compliance. To the extent practicable, ignition interlock programs should be offender funded. The use of ignition interlocks should be coupled with other sanctions, supervision and treatment to discourage future recidivism.

GHSA also urges the federal government to fund further research on the use of interlock devices by convicted or administratively sanctioned drunk drivers.

GHSA supports research on advanced impaired driving detection technology and urges Congress to adequately fund such research.

GHSA urges states to adapt impaired driving prevention systems to identify high-risk impaired drivers who have a high likelihood of recidivism, which includes offenders that have a substance abuse or mental health disorder, high-BAC offenders, repeat offenders and poly-substance offenders.

GHSA supports enhanced penalties for first time offenders with high BAC levels (e.g. .15 and above) and repeat DUI offenders and urges states to enact high BAC laws. These penalties should be graduated, based on the BAC of the driver and/or the number of convictions. The penalties should include increased fines, license revocation, home detention and electronic monitoring, vehicle sanctions (such as registration cancellation and license plate seizure, impoundment, immobilization and ignition interlocks), intensive supervised probation, professional evaluation and treatment. GHSA strongly advocates for the integration and coordination of administrative, criminal justice and treatment systems affecting these higher risk drunk drivers.

GHSA encourages all state and local governments to pass laws that prohibit the consumption of alcoholic beverages and the possession of open alcoholic beverage containers in the passenger compartments of motor vehicles.

GHSA encourages states where marijuana is legal to possess to pass laws that prohibit the use of marijuana and the possession of unpackaged marijuana or open or unsealed marijuana containers and paraphernalia in the passenger compartment of motor vehicles.

Impaired drivers who drive with a suspended or revoked license are a growing problem in this country. Vehicle sanctions (e.g. license plate seizure; vehicle impoundment, immobilization, or seizure, ignition interlocks) have been shown to be effective against driving while suspended. States should ensure that their vehicle sanction laws also apply to those impaired drivers who drive with a suspended or revoked license.

GHSA supports the use of sobriety checkpoints or saturation patrols in a comprehensive traffic safety program to detect and apprehend alcohol and other drug-impaired drivers. GHSA further encourages states and localities, to the extent current resources permit, to establish dedicated DUI patrols whose sole responsibility is to enforce DUI laws. The enforcement of DUI laws should be carried out in an equitable manner.

Improved BAC/Drug testing should be a priority for every state because BAC/Drug data will give states an accurate picture of the impaired driving problem in their state. All states are encouraged to enact mandatory BAC/Drug testing laws for deceased and surviving drivers and pedestrians involved in a fatal crash or where there is a likelihood of a fatality. States are encouraged to support law enforcement officers, medical examiners, lab criminalists and coroners with the training and equipment they need for BAC/drug testing and reporting. States should also develop specific procedures for the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) analysts so they can accurately report BAC/drug test results. States are also encouraged to convene state forums on BAC/drug testing which would bring all the responsible agencies together to identify and overcome state BAC/drug testing and reporting problems.

GHSA also urges states to: 1) enact tougher penalties for impaired driving offenders who refuse to take BAC/drug tests; and 2) make test refusal admissible in court. The penalties should be greater than those for failing a BAC/drug test. The intent is to discourage test refusal and to close a significant loophole in state impaired driving laws.

The provisions of state insurance law (referred to as Uniform Accident Sickness Policy Provision Laws or UPPL) or insurance codes that deny payment for the treatment of impaired persons should be repealed because such laws/codes hamper state BAC/drug reporting efforts. States should also explicitly prohibit insurance companies from excluding coverage for injuries suffered under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Without an explicit prohibition, medical personnel may be reluctant to test BAC/drug levels on injured persons in emergency settings.

GHSA supports community-based designated driver and safe rides programs and urges states and localities to implement them for persons aged 21 and above.

GHSA recommends that NHTSA, state highway safety agencies, industry representatives, liquor control agencies and grassroots organizations with an interest in the issue of server training meet and develop a model program and establish strategies for implementing such a server training a model program. States are also encouraged to enact mandatory server training laws.

DUI courts are a promising strategy to change the behavior of offenders who are repeatedly arrested for driving while impaired by addressing the offender’s abuse of alcohol. Typically in a DUI court, there is prompt intake and assessment, court-ordered individualized sanctions for offenders, frequent drug and alcohol testing, treatment and aftercare services, and frequent monitoring and ongoing judicial interaction with the offender. Prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, probation, law enforcement and treatment professionals usually function as a team to systematically change the impaired driver’s behavior. The individualized sanctions are structured to maximize the probability of rehabilitation and minimize the likelihood of recidivism. 

These courts can involve specialized court calendars or dockets for individuals, juveniles or families rather than specifically designated district courts.

GHSA supports DUI courts and urges states to work with their state criminal justice agency counterparts to implement them where appropriate.

Dedicated DUI detention facilities, home confinement and electronic monitoring, intensive supervised probation and close monitoring by individual judges have all been shown to significantly reduce recidivism by convicted DUI offenders. States should enact a DUI offender monitoring program and offenders should be required to bear a substantial share of the program costs.

GHSA supports the use of continuous alcohol monitoring, 24/7 sobriety, and similar programs, in conjunction with compliance-based monitoring, treatment, and other interventions, especially to address offenders’ underlying substance abuse issues and provide flexibility and cost-savings to communities for offender supervision.

Diversion programs allow a drunk driving offense to be dropped if the offender agrees to enter an education, treatment or other rehabilitation program. Plea bargaining allows a DUI offender to avoid being convicted by accepting the penalty for a lesser or non-alcohol offense. Both of these approaches allow offenders to escape impaired driving penalties and undermine many elements of a comprehensive DUI system. States should restrict plea bargaining and limit diversion programs to first-time offenders with low BACs or, where possible, eliminate such programs altogether. GHSA opposes programs to expunge, seal or otherwise obscure impaired driving offenses that might prevent the identification of repeat DUI offenders.

Court monitoring is a mechanism for tracking DUI cases to determine how many are handled within a particular time frame, how many go to trial, what kind of sentences are being handed down and whether the sentences are consistent with authorized sanctions.

It is an effective tool for strengthening the adjudication of DUI cases. States are encouraged to use court monitoring to the extent practicable.

Screening and brief interventions (SBI) in emergency settings have been shown to effectively reduce a first-time offender’s future alcohol or drug consumption and the incidences in which he/she drives impaired. A comprehensive assessment can determine if an offender is a substance abuser or a high-risk impaired driver. Offender assessments — including first time offenders — combined with treatment have been shown to be effective in reducing recidivism. States should enact new laws or strengthen existing laws requiring all offenders to receive a screening and brief intervention, or if warranted from the SBI results, an alcohol assessment, as soon after arrest as practicable. Where appropriate, offenders should be referred to certified treatment facilities and (except for indigent offenders) should bear the costs of treatment.

While federal impaired driving incentive grants provide an important source of funding for state impaired driving programs, the federal funding has been insufficient to meet state needs. States are encouraged to enact impaired driving programs funded by fees and fines on offenders. This source of funding can supplement federal funding and provide states with a much broader base of resources with which to fund impaired driving programs.

GHSA shares the national concern about underage drinking and drug use and joins other national organizations in addressing this pervasive problem comprehensively.

With respect to underage access to alcohol and drugs, GHSA encourages states to support a systematic approach to reducing access and availability through frequent compliance checks and programs such as Cops in Shops which are directed at the sale, purchase and consumption of alcohol or drugs by persons under the age of 21. Sellers of alcohol or drugs to underage persons should face substantial fines and the suspension of the business or liquor license and states should consider graduated penalties which increase with each conviction. GHSA strongly opposes the internet sale and direct shipment of alcoholic beverages or drugs to underage youth and urges that steps be taken to penalize sellers who engage in such practices. 

With respect to public policy initiatives, GHSA supports the continuation of state laws that specify zero alcohol and drug use for drivers under age 21 (barring legal prescriptions and other legal use). GHSA strongly supports the continuation of uniform minimum drinking age of 21 and urges that such laws prohibit the purchase, possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages or drugs by those under 21, the sale or provision of alcohol or drugs to minors by adults and underage drinking or drug use in private clubs and establishments. GHSA supports beer keg registration laws that require the identity of the purchaser to be recorded and encourages states to enact such laws.

GHSA also urges states to enact or strengthen their dram shop liability laws so that commercial establishments can be held liable if they sold or provided alcohol to a minor who subsequently caused injury. States also should enact social host laws that hold parents and guardians liable for underage drinking or drug use in their house and anti-happy hour laws that eliminate drink specials in which alcohol is rapidly consumed over a short period.

With respect to enforcement, GHSA supports programs to enforce underage drinking and drug laws (such as shoulder tap and controlled dispersal programs) and programs that facilitate underage enforcement (such as juvenile holdover programs and teen courts). GHSA urges states and localities to use nuisance and loitering laws as a means of discouraging youth from congregating outside alcohol or drug outlets in order to solicit adults to purchase alcohol or drugs. GHSA encourages states to strengthen efforts to prevent and detect the use of false identification by minors in order to purchase alcohol or drugs. States are also encouraged to publicize any underage drinking or drug use law that is enacted.

With respect to community interventions, GHSA urges communities to assess the underage drinking or drug use problem in their community and adopt evidence-based, effective countermeasures. NHTSA and other federal agencies should offer technical assistance to communities and encourage community assessments through materials and processes developed by GHSA and others.

With respect to college programs, colleges and universities should adopt evidence-based, comprehensive approaches to prevent underage drinking and drug use. These could include alcohol and drug screening, educational strategies combined with other interventions, enforcement, policies that limit access to alcohol and drugs for those under 21 (particularly on campus or in the vicinity of the college or university) and social norming. NHTSA, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and other federal agencies should continue to evaluate college programs to determine which are effective and which are not.

With respect to program coordination, GHSA supports the federal Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking, coordinated by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

With respect to resources, GHSA urges that additional federal resources should be devoted to addressing the problem of underage drinking and drug use (and impaired driving) in a comprehensive manner.

States are strongly encouraged to establish and maintain statewide DUI task forces of state and local officials, law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, motor vehicle administrators, treatment officials and other stakeholders deemed appropriate by the state. The DUI task force should be responsible for managing improvements in the state’s DUI system by conducting a comprehensive assessment of the state’s DUI system, establishing performance benchmarks for the system, setting up communications mechanisms between different components of the DUI system, making recommendations for improvements and ensuring that steady and reasonable progress is made in implementing the recommendations. States should periodically review the activities of the task force.

GHSA strongly encourages the alcohol and spirits industry and the cannabis industry to utilize advertising messages to discourage combining drinking and drug use with driving and to market all products responsibly. GHSA offers to work with other organizations in the transportation and highway safety communities to develop plans and support for responsible corporate advertising.

In addition, GHSA opposes any advertising aimed at the underage youth market. GHSA urges the alcohol and cannabis industries and their trade associations to support voluntary alcohol and drug advertising standards that prohibits alcohol or drug advertising if more than 15% of the intended audience is underage. Further, GHSA urges the Federal Trade Commission or other appropriate federal agency to monitor underage exposure to alcohol and drug advertising on a continuing basis and periodically report to Congress and the public.

GHSA is opposed to any legislative initiative to reduce the cost(s) of all regulated alcoholic beverages by lowering alcohol excise taxes. GHSA supports all efforts to reduce underage drinking and driving; therefore, the Association finds that lowering the cost(s) of all alcoholic beverage is extremely poor public policy and should not be enacted.

If states enact legislation that affects alcohol taxation, as a direct or indirect result of federal alcohol legislation, the resultant funds should be made available for impaired driving education and enforcement purposes.

Federal agencies such as NHTSA and NIAAA of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have adopted the definition of an alcoholic drink as: 12 oz. of beer = 5 oz. of wine = 1.5 oz. of distilled spirits such as whiskey, gin or vodka. GHSA supports public education messages designed to increase awareness of alcohol equivalency as defined by the federal government and urges state motor vehicle administrations to include alcohol equivalency information in their drivers’ manuals.

Though research is still developing, GHSA encourages the development of scientifically supported standardized dose equivalency for cannabis products to the extent possible for the purpose of encouraging responsible use.

GHSA supports and encourages the certification and adoption of the NHTSA DUI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST) curriculum or its equivalent and the inclusion of the curriculum or its equivalent at key points: required recruit training, Police Officer Standards and Training, an emphasis for Field Training Officers, and for in-service police officer training levels. GHSA urges states to consider periodic officer re-certification on impaired driving detection training, as practicable. Additionally, GHSA supports training for judges and prosecutors on the science of impairment, enforcement laws and techniques, effective sentencing, drug impairment and other relevant impaired driving issues.

GHSA recognizes the importance of programs that assist victims and educate the public on the impact of impaired driving on victims. The Association recommends that states coordinate such programs as part of their comprehensive effort to address the impaired driving problem in their state.

GHSA supports the addition of DUI victim crash data to the list of violent crimes on the FBI’s Unified Crime Reporting (UCR) database in order to acknowledge the impact of these crimes and provide new rights, services, and resources to victims.

GHSA urges that legislation to protect victim’s rights continues to allow for the collection, analysis and reporting of crash data.

GHSA believes more research needs to be conducted on drug impaired driving. Some of the specific issues that need to be evaluated include: the scope of the drugged driving problem, the effects of drugs on driving, strategies to improve drugged driving data collection, more effective methods to detect drug impaired driving, and effective public education and outreach to drug users.

GHSA urges states to clarify impaired driving laws addressing bicycling while impaired. States should also direct educational messaging on impairment towards bicyclists, pedestrians, micromobility travelers and other road users.

Federal, state and community efforts to decriminalize or legalize marijuana for medical or recreational purposes should be accompanied by consideration of the impact on impaired driving and commensurate investment in traffic safety countermeasures. GHSA urges states that have legalized cannabis to implement evidence-based public education campaigns on safe and responsible use.