Conn. Finds Aggressive Drivers U-Turn into Trouble After Retraining

Connecticut officials are alarmed at the high recidivism rate of aggressive drivers forced to attend traffic offender school.

Nearly 42 percent of the 77,000 motorists who attended driver retraining between 2001 and 2003 were sent back to the program after receiving more tickets for speeding, tailgating or other moving violations, according to estimates by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Of the 32,000 drivers who had to repeat the traffic offender program, 59 percent had to enroll in driver retraining twice, nearly 25 percent took it three times and 17 percent took it four or more times, according to DMV statistics obtained by the Connecticut Post.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called the recidivism rate “strikingly high.” The state Office of Legislative Research calls it “significant.” New DMV Commissioner Ralph Carpenter, a former state trooper, said the rate was “cause for great concern.”

State Sen. Bill Finch, D-Bridgeport, put it another way.

“It’s a joke, an absolute joke, the way this program works or doesn’t work,” Finch said. “How many times can we keep sending drivers back to these schools and see no appreciable difference in the aggressive way they handle themselves on the road?”
Jack Sousa, who runs the Driving School Association of Connecticut, sees the 41.5 percent recidivism rate as a positive number. He and the National Safety Council provide driver retraining classes.

“That, to me, shows that for 59 percent of the people who take it, this type of course, with its behavioral modification techniques, does work,” Sousa said. “Anybody who says otherwise is just out to bash it.”

California also has a high recidivism rate. Several independent studies show slight difference in the driving habits of the 1.1 million motorists a year after completing California’s 8-hour course.

“The situation has gotten so bad that there are local judges who are now refusing to send drivers to traffic violator school,” California DMV spokesman William Gutierrez says. “They think it’s a flop.”

Although the success of driver retraining programs are in question, they are a lucrative business in Connecticut. A number of other driving schools want their piece of the program, and are developing a curriculum plan they intend to submit to the DMV, if and when the program is opened to competitive bidding.

According to DMV records, Connecticut’s two driver retraining providers had gross receipts of $5.4 million over the last three years on the program, which was awarded without competitive bidding.

The Connecticut Post obtained an internal DMV report that indicates that if the department were to take back the program and manage it in-house, it would have to expend $2.1 million, hire 15 additional staffers and rent space for the classes.

The way the program runs now, the vendors collect $60 from each student and forward $10 to the state as its share of the tuition.

Carpenter, who took over as DMV commissioner only a few weeks ago, says he wants the DMV to take a more proactive role in overseeing driver retraining.

“If we are going to mandate that these people go for retraining, then it’s incumbent on us to ensure that they are being provided with the retraining that we promised and that it achieves its purpose,” Carpenter said.

Topics California Personal Auto Connecticut