NCJ Number
74527
Date Published
1978
Length
110 pages
Annotation
Administrative adjudication of traffic offenses is discussed including legal and constitutional issues, special interest concerns, cost and benefit analyses, traffic safety issues, and strategies for planning, implementing, and reporting administrative adjudication studies.
Abstract
Using administrative adjudication procedures, offending drivers can generally plead by mail or appear at hearings and have their cases processed within an hour. Requirements for traffic officer court appearances can be severely reduced and officers can use electronic communications systems to take immediate actions against drivers as necessary. Steps in carrying out a feasibility study of administrative adjudication begin with problem definition; proceed through the identification of objectives, system features, special interest groups, and legal feasibility and research needs; and conclude with a cost-benefit analysis. Legal considerations related to administrative adjudication include the decriminalization of traffic offenses, the transfer of legal responsibility to administrative agencies, and procedural issues, which may affect system design and implementation. A broad mandate should be sought from judges, lawyers, and commercial drivers and their input should be obtained early in the analysis. Cost-benefit analyses should acknowledge that staff reductions are unlikely because of systems backlogs, that savings will be long term rather than short term, and that benefits may be difficult to measure. Appendixes include sample visual aids for explaining administrative adjudication, a discussion of the separation of powers involved in the process, a technical description of cost-benefit analysis techniques, and the results of a judicial attitude survey.