Lohan Arrest Highlights DUI License Suspension Study

July 24, 2007 — -- When Lindsay Lohan was arrested early Tuesday morning, it marked the second time in less than two months that the actress was investigated for suspected driving under the influence.

Now, a new study suggests that immediately taking the driver's licenses away from DUI suspects like Lohan could save hundreds of lives a year.

The findings, released Tuesday in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Evaluation, showed that immediate suspension of a DUI offender's license -- as opposed to delayed suspension -- was associated with a 5 percent lower fatal car crash rate, saving about 800 lives each year.

"That difference can be directly attributed to these laws," said epidemiologist Alexander Wagenaar of the University of Florida, the study's lead author.

The researchers arrived at the conclusion after examining fatal alcohol-related crashes from 1976 to 2002 in 46 states, 38 of which enacted immediate license suspension laws during this time.

Under such laws, a police officer at the scene is authorized to take away an intoxicated driver's license. The driver then receives a temporary permit, which allows drivers in some states to use their license on a restricted basis for a brief period, during which the driver can appeal the suspension. In other states, drivers are prohibited from driving at all during the suspension period.

The study's authors believe that the speed of the punishment is what makes immediate suspensions so effective.

"Consequences that occur close in time to the behavior are more reinforcing or punishing than those that occur later," they wrote in their paper.

So far, 41 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws to immediately suspend a driver's license when the person has been caught drunk behind the wheel.

These laws, enacted during the early 1980s, were aimed specifically at reducing the number of deaths from alcohol-related vehicle accidents, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

However, nine states still do not have immediate suspension. In those states, any suspension comes later, only after the driver is convicted.