Drive Drunk, Lose Your Car? - New York, NY, law takes cars away from drunk drivers when they are arrested

0 Comments | Current Events, March 26, 1999

The numbers are staggering. In 1996, 17,126 people died in the United States in alcohol-related car crashes--or one person every 31 minutes. In the hands of a drunken driver, an automobile can be a deadly weapon.

In February, New York City's mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, announced a plan to take those weapons out of drunken drivers' hands. He ordered New York City police to seize the cars of people arrested for drunken driving--even those arrested for the first time. Defendants would then have to go to civil court to get their cars back, even if they are found innocent of drunken driving charges in criminal court. Giuliani said the plan will significantly lower drunken driving in New York City.

Some critics, however, say that taking away the car of first -time drunken driving suspects before the person is convicted of a crime is unfair.

Plan Takes Drunks Off Roads

Seizing and holding cars of all of those arrested on drunken driving charges, Giuliani says, serves as a deterrent to drunken driving and saves lives by taking an intoxicated driver's weapon. "This will be a very, very useful way to reduce ... the number of traffic fatal/ties in the city," Giuliani concluded when he announced the plan.

Supporters say the punishment is perfectly legal. Seizing vehicles and property of criminals is not a new concept. Twenty states, including New York, already have laws that allow states to confiscate the cars of repeat drunken drivers. Police around the country also seize the cars and other property of those arrested for dealing drugs.

New York City, like many cities, has a law that allows police to take property used in the commission of a crime. Cars of drunken drivers fall into that category, they say.

Right Idea, Wrong Method

"Drunk drivers are a problem," said Patricia Perry, of the American Civil Liberties Union. "However, we do not believe it is legal to take people's cars before they are ever convicted."

The U.S. justice system is based on the idea that defendants are innocent until proved guilty, say opponents of Giuliani's plan. They argue that seizing drivers' cars when they are arrested assumes that defendants are guilty before they are tried.

The policy, opponents say, could end up punishing the families of a drunken driver. For example, if a teen were arrested for driving drunk in his parents' car, the car could be taken even though the parents, not the teen, owned the car.

Mayor Giuliani's policy, say opponents, is simply not fair and is not the right way to curb drunken driving.

If you lived in New York City, would be your opinion of the mayor's plan?