Deterrence on Repeat DUI Offenders under Harsh Punishments – An Application of the Regression Discontinuity Design

• In Event: Impact of Criminal Legal System Involvement on Drug Use and Other Health Outcomes

Abstract

In an effort to decrease the rate of drunk driving recidivism, the Taiwanese government amended criminal laws in 2019 and 2022 to increase the criminal liability of repeat DUI offenders. To evaluate the effectiveness of these statutory changes, a study was conducted using the criminal justice database developed by the Crime Prevention Research Center of the Academy for the Judiciary, Ministry of Justice, Taiwan. The study analyzed official criminal records of individuals who drove under the influence of alcohol between 2014 and 2022. Employing the regression discontinuity design (RDD), the study investigated whether the harsher punishments had any deterrent effect on DUI recidivists, resulting in a lower ratio of daily repeat to daily total DUI cases. However, the empirical results indicated that the two legal amendments did not statistically significantly reduce the ratio of DUI cases. This suggests that harsher punishments offer limited deterrence effects. Instead, the government should focus on improving the celerity and certainty of punishment and consider the negative impact of harsh punishments rather than increasing their severity.

Authors

• Tzu-Hao Wu, Georgia State University

• Yuan-Hao Cheng, Crime Prevention Research Center of the Academy for the Judiciary, Ministry of Justice, Taiwan

• Pei-Yi Hsieh, Crime Prevention Research Center of the Academy for the Judiciary, Ministry of Justice, Taiwan