| The Virginia Habitual Offender Project is an intervention program intended to prevent offenders who have accumulated a second qualifying traffic offense (e.g., DWI or driving with a suspended license) from being declared "habitual offenders". Persons accumulating three or more separate qualifying traffic violation convictions within a ten year period can be determined to be an habitual offender and have their license and driving privileges revoked. Qualifying offenders are ordered to report to a Virginia Alcohol and Safety Action Program (VASAP) within 30 days or their driving privileges will be suspended. A case management approach is used to develop an individualized program appropriate for each referral to the habitual offender program. Programmatic interventions offered by VASAP include, for example, substance abuse counseling and treatment, education programs, ordered driver improvement, and aggressive driver classes. The impact evaluation of the Habitual Offender Project was conducted using three approaches, a time series regression analysis (measuring the change in the probability that qualified offenders became habitual offenders, pre- and post-program implementation), a time series intervention analysis (examining impact of the program on motor vehicle accidents), and a panel study (examining the impact of VASAP Program elements on the probability of being declared a habitual offender.
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Updated 05/20/2006