Deadly Drivers
In early 2007, after a series of high profile fatalities on Maine roads involving drivers with suspended licenses, the Portland Press Herald assigned investigative reporter Kevin Wack to find the answer to one question: Are suspended drivers more dangerous than other motorists? He went to the Maine Department of Public Safety, which after legal wrangling released a database containing records on 188,000 crashes. With the help of computer experts at The Seattle Times, Wack ran scores of queries on the data. His results are reported in an outstanding series, "Danger Behind the Wheel":
When suspended drivers are involved in crashes, the likelihood that someone will die is six times greater than when properly licensed drivers crash….
When suspended drivers crash, there is a four times greater likelihood that someone will suffer an incapacitating injury….
Suspended drivers are 10 times more likely than legal drivers to have been using drugs or alcohol at the time of a crash.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/dangerousdrivers.html