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Traffic Courts

Resource Guide

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Gregory Hurley

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Traffic Resource Center

Traffic courts cover a wide range of offenses that include impaired driving, management of traffic cases, fine collection, model DUI, technology, decriminalization of traffic offenses, aggressive driving, and racial profiling. Since a popular question regarding this topic includes the use of case management systems and other technological aids to process traffic cases, this module contains a list of vendors for various systems and software packages.

Links to related online resources are listed below. Non-digitized publications may be borrowed from the NCSC Library; call numbers are provided.

Featured Links

Commercial Driving Resource Center. (2012).

The purpose of the Commercial Driving Resource Center website is to assist in reducing the number of crashes and fatalities involving commercial vehicles by increasing outreach to the court community so that cases involving CDL holders and operators can be properly adjudicated and timely notifications made to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Legislative Tracking Database. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration & the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Provides information on current traffic safety legislation in the states.
Medical Examinations for Commercial Drivers Licenses. (2012).

Beginning January 30, 2012, a significant change has occurred in record keeping requirements for commercial driver’s licenses. This change will impact the duties and responsibilities of commercial drivers, as well as state licensing agencies. The change is explained in detail in 49 CFR § 383.73 (o).
Flango, Victor E. and Ann L. Keith. The Road Less Angrily Traveled: Aggressive Driving Legislation. (2004). Future Trends in State Courts.

The impact of aggressive driving as a public health problem will continue to serve as a catalyst for legislation to improve enforcement efforts to ensure safety on roadways.
Traffic Injury Research Foundation.

The Traffic Injury Research Foundation is a charitable, independent road safety institute. It performs original research into the causes of road crashes and develops and promotes effective prevention programs and policies.
Traffic Safety and Occupant Protection. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Provides information on driver safety, driver performance, crashes, and injury protection.
Traffic Systems Vendors.

Traffic Systems Vendors from the Court Technology Vendor List.
Traffic/Violations Caseloads. Traffic/Violation section from Examining the Work of State Courts: An Analysis of 2007 State Court Caseload.

General

State Court Caseload Statistics, 2009, Traffic/Violations Section. (2012). Williamsburg, VA: National Center for State Courts This report provides information regarding total state trial court traffic violation caseloads in 2005. Information is provided for total traffic filings, total traffic dispositions, dispositions as a percentage of filings and filings per 100,000 adult population. State trial court DWI statistics can also be found in chart format in this publication.
Harmon, John et al. Commercial Drivers' Licenses: A Prosecutor's Guide to the Basic of Commerical Motor Vehicle Licensing and Violations. (2011). National District Attorneys Associationa and the National Traffic Law Center.

This report provides a history of the development of Commercial Diver's Licenses (CDL) and provides prosecutor considerations for violations and consequences.
Traffic, Parking, and Local Ordinance Case Reporting. (2009). Research Division, NCSC and Conference of State Court Administrators.

Traffic, parking, and local ordinance section from State Court Guide to Statistical Reporting.
Keith, Ann. Anger Management Program Employed for Traffic Offenses. (May 2001).

This literature review identifies nationally recognize Danger Management Programs for the treatment of traffic offenses includes published and unpublished works from print and electronic sources.
Keith, Ann. Soccer Moms and Road Ragers: Remedies to Curb Aggressive Driving. (May 2001). William and Mary Journal of Women and the Law - Marshall-Wythe School of Law Aggressive driving is on the rise according to the American Auto Association Foundation for Traffic Safety Study, which found that incidents of aggressive driving have increased by seven percent every year since 1990.
Fautsko, Timothy, Karen Gottlieb, and Cindy Dietrich. Traffic Violations Bureau Operations and Workflow Analysis. (March 1997). 127 pages, Court Services Division.

This report highlights the findings from a survey conducted by NCSC from October to December 1996. The report analyzes operations and workflow in the Traffic Violations Bureau and Hearing Office and makes specific recommendations for improvement of its day-to-day operations.
Matthias, John, Gwendolyn Lyford, and Paul Gomez. Current Practices in Collecting Fines and Fees in State Courts: A Handbook of Collection Issues and Solutions. (1995). Court Services Division.

This report is a practical guide to policies and practices for operating and managing a fine collection system.
State Traffic and Speed Laws. This page contains a summary of and links to state laws related to speeding, and in particular excess speeding and reckless driving.
Summary Table of State Speed Laws. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration provides a summary table which details each states' sanction for three crimes: exceeding the speed limit, reckless driving, and racing on the highways.

DUI/DWI

6th Annual Ignition Interlock Symposium Proceedings. (September 2005). More than 90 delegates representing 12 countries discussed the development and expansion of interlock programs internationally regarding "A global Perspective." Delegates attended  seminaries regarding research on first and repeat offenders and criterion-based program features, developing programs and advancements in ongoing programs delivered from several countries, and emerging technologies that included presentations from Saab and Volvo. 
Cheesman, Fred, Denise Dancy, Ann Jones, and Don Hardenbergh. An Examination of Recidivism of Offenders Receiving Services from the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program. (August 2004). NCSC and Court Works.

There are 24 Alcohol Safety Action Program (ASAP) District Offices operating throughout Virginia.  This report provides an assessment of their success in reducing the incidence of driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs.
Flango, Victor E. DWI Courts: The Newest Problem-Solving Courts. (Spring 2005). Court Review Volume 42 Issue 1 This article addresses the trend in problem-solving courts, specifically Driving While under the Influence or Driving While Intoxicated courts. The author explores the reasons for creating a DWI court, the trend of issues that most DWI courts face, and provides information regarding case type, caseload, and recidivism rate for 63 DWI courts across the country. 
Strategies for Addressing The DWI Offender: 10 Promising Sentencing Practices. (March 2005). National Highway Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation The Sentencing Summit was intended to identify innovative sentencing practices that have been used successfully by courts in dealing with DWI offenders who have not been prevented from re-offending by traditional sentencing methods. This report identifies 10 sentencing innovations the summit participants deemed to have promise for educing recidivism by DWI offenders, whether repeat or first time offenders.
Flango, Victor E. and Carol R. Flango. What's Happening with DWI Courts?. (2006). Future Trends in State Courts.

This article discusses the continued growth of DWI courts in the states with a more diversified funding base, the use of technology to reduce the cost of monitoring clietns, and includes a table listing DWI/DUI courts as of 2006.

Model Traffic Courts

National Traffic Court Seminar.. Judicial Division, American Bar Association Each year the ABA hosts a national conference for state traffic courts across the country. Topics for each seminar chance annually and are typically related to current issues in the courts, such as ethical issues regarding judges, search and seizure, immigration.
Teen Court. (Fall 1997). Safety Digest The goal of Teen Court is to direct cases away from the juvenile courts and to provide an alternative approach to litigating traffic violations such as impaired driving, speeding and seat belt nonuse. The Teen Court program focuses on prevention of offenses rather than simply punishing them.

Racial Profiling

A Suggested Approach to Analyzing Racial Profiling: Sample Templates for Analyzing Car-Stop Data. NCJ 209524 This site describes the general approaches used during traffic stops and illustrates them with sample templates of the analytical output. These templates represent examples of how to display and evaluate results from various analysis methods.
Contacts Between Police and the Public: Findings from the 1999 National Survey. (March 2001). U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics This report presents data on the nature and characteristics of citizen contacts with the police over a 12-month period. Findings are provided from a nationally representative survey of nearly 90,000 residents age 16 or older. Detailed information is presented on face-to-face contacts with the police including traffic stops, arrests, handcuffing and incidents of police use-of-force. The report also provides demographic characteristics of citizens and police officers involved in traffic stops and use of force encounters.
Racial Profiling in America: Arrest the Racism. American Civil Liberties Union This site provides definitions of racial profiling and introduces the ACLU's Campaign Against Racial Profiling, which is a program that has undertaken  major initiatives in public education, legislation and litigation, including our Arrest the Racism campaign, to end discriminatory police stops and searches. This special web-based campaign is designed to educate the public and enlist citizens in the fight to eliminate racial profiling in America.
Racial Profiling: Limited Data Available on Motorist Stops: Report to the Honorable James E. Clyburn, Chairman, Congressional Black Caucus. (2001). Washington, DC: General Accounting Office This report focuses on the analyses that have been conducted on racial profiling of motorists, and federal, state and local data currently available on motorist stops.
Traffic Stops in Nebraska. (April 2012). Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice.

This annual report gives statistics and data on traffic stops in Nebraska as part of its initiative to uphold anti-racial profiling legislation.

Red Light Photo and Radar Enforcement

Harris, Tom. How Radar Detectors Work. This article defines radar detectors and their common usage, as well as steps police departments are taking to combat detection technology.
Loop 101 Photo Enforcement Program: Final Report. (April 2009). This is a final report of the Scottsdale City Court's photo enforcement program.  It has case filing disposition and financial statistics.
Cornell, Janet G. Photo Enforcement Traffic Cases in Scottdale`s Municipal Court. (2007). Scottsdale Arizona Municipal Court Photo radar technology for traffic enforcement in Scottsdale started in late 1996.  In October, 2005 the Scottsdale City Council approved a 9 month "Demonstration Program" to further evaluate photo enforcement.  This report is an interim analysis.
Red Light Cameras. National Motorists Association This site provides links to several studies conducted by the Virginia Department of Transportation, Canada's Ministry of Transportation, and the Texas Transportation Institute regarding red light and photo enforcement studies.

Technology

SPIRIT (Simultaneous Paperless Image Retrieval Information Technology) Project. SPIRIT is a series of technology-based information systems developed between the Clerk's Office, the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) and Miami-Dade County. The project was created to improve the service to the various agencies that process traffic cases, attorneys and the public; and to respond to increased pressure from the public to be able to do more with less. 
The On-Line Traffic School. This link gives details regarding on-line traffic school programs that are available for most courts. Click here for over 200 courts that work with The On-Line Traffic School.