NCJ Number
139168
Date Published
1992
Length
71 pages
Annotation
This report describes the experimental introduction of Alcohol Traffic Education Programs (ATEP) on a national basis in the Netherlands in 1989.
Abstract
Each ATEP, which serves as an alternative sanction for offenders of alcohol-traffic regulations, consists of a 2-day course for 10 to 20 adjudicated "drunken drivers." The ATEP has been organized from a judicial perspective in two different forms: the "prosecution" model and the "court" model. Participants receive either a reduction of the prosecutors' demand in court or avoid the execution of the suspended part of the penal sentence. Results of an initial evaluation confirm previous conclusions that the program significantly affects both knowledge and attitudes of the participants. Positive program effects are retained during the one year time period, but no positive effects could be demonstrated on actual behavior as measured with the judicial registration figures. Participants did not commit fewer or more alcohol-traffic offenses after program participation than those who did not participate. 7 footnotes, 21 tables, 121 references, and 4 appendixes