Predation and the Disproportionate Risk of Driver’s License Suspensions in Economically and Racially Marginalized Communities

Driver’s license suspensions for non-safety reasons such as failure to appear or failure to pay exploit vulnerable groups in order to fill state and local budgets. Analyzing Department of Motor Vehicle data from 2017, this article examines the impact of driver’s license suspensions on economically and racially marginalized communities in New York State and explores different reform scenarios to reduce socioeconomic and racial disparities. The results indicate that ending suspensions for unpaid traffic tickets, common fines and fees, and failure to appear in traffic court would significantly reduce the number of suspensions. The study also highlights the disproportionate concentration of suspensions in predominantly Black and/or Hispanic communities, which suggests that ending suspensions for failure to pay and failure to appear in traffic court could reduce overall suspensions and inequality in communities with a higher Hispanic or Black population. ​ The authors emphasize the need for comprehensive reforms to address structural barriers to compliance and further reduce disparities in suspension rates.  

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Key Findings: 

• Most driver’s license suspensions were for non-safety reasons; 42.3 percent were for failure to appear, and 22.4 percent were for failure to pay.
• Results from a Poisson regression model found that suspensions for failure to appear and failure to pay were strongly predicted by zip code socioeconomic disadvantages.
• Results from a prediction model that ​hypothesizes a scenario in which suspension records associated with failure to pay traffic tickets, driver responsibility assessment fees, and failure to appear in traffic court are removed would lead to a 57 percent decline in the total number of individuals with suspensions.

Recommendations:

• Eliminate suspension records associated with failure to pay traffic tickets, driver responsibility assessment fees, and failure to appear in traffic court.