Black Boxes Keep Eye On Bad Drivers
A program in southwest Oakland County, Mich., that focuses on drivers who repeatedly have broken the law has begun employing “black box” technology to keep an eye on whether certain repeat offenders are driving well. The DRIVE program is thought to be the first in Michigan to target the drivers, and is also one of the first in the nation to use the black boxes, which track such things as the speed of a car and how fast it goes around corners. So far, 60 individuals have been sentenced to the program, which also includes group therapy, driving instruction, and community service. Just three have been cited for traffic offenses, and none have gone back to court on more serious charges or been involved in crashes. The majority of earlier efforts to keep repeat violators off the road have failed because they mostly depend upon revoking a person’s license, a measure that has time and again been discovered to be ineffective. The black boxes will eventually be outfitted with equipment so they can be followed by satellite. All of that data is obtained each month and sent to the driver’s probation officer.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Detroit News (08/26/05) P. 1A; Heath, Brad .
