Driver Accountability Program

A whiteboard explains risky driving in the Driver Accountability Program at Red Hook Community Justice Center

The Driver Accountability Program is an innovative response to driving-related offenses that seeks to improve traffic safety and increase accountability among dangerous drivers. 

Every year, dangerous drivers kill more than 35,000 people in avoidable car crashes across the United States, but the criminal justice system’s standard response—tickets and arrests leading to fines and fees or, on rare occasions, short jail sentences—hasn't curbed risky driving behavior.

The Driver Accountability Program provides a restorative alternative to fines and fees for those who have committed criminal driving offenses. A trained facilitator uses exercises and discussion to raise participants’ awareness of the harms of dangerous driving behaviors and to identify strategies to improve their driving.

Launched as a pilot in 2015 at our Red Hook Community Justice Center, the program was created in partnership with the New York City Police Department, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, City Council Member Brad Lander, and Families for Safe Streets. In 2019, New York City's Council provided funding to expand use of the Driver Accountability Program to criminal courts in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Staten Island, and Manhattan, allowing us to reach 2,500 or more people annually. By providing alternatives to business as usual, our Driver Accountability Program is improving safety while reducing the negative impacts of the justice system.

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The course impacted the way I think and the way I view driving. I realized how often I didn’t think of the more serious consequences of driving, and I will try to be more careful in the future because I don’t want to hurt anyone.
Program Participant

Publications & Digital Media

  • Publication

    Circles for Safe Streets: Driver Accountability Through Restorative Justice

    Circles for Safe Streets, a pilot project of the Center for Court Innovation in partnership with Families for Safe Streets, provides a restorative justice response to vehicular crimes resulting in serious injury or death. The program builds on the Center’s work in both Driver Accountability and Restorative Justice, offering an avenue to support both victims and drivers.

    Diversion, Restorative Justice

  • Publication

    Steering Towards Safety: An Impact Evaluation of the Driver Accountability Program

    Traditional responses to driving offenses often fail to address the underlying issues that lead to unsafe driving while exacerbating racial and economic disparities. This evaluation of the Driver Accountability Program (DAP)—an alternative sentencing program for people arraigned on driving-related charges—builds upon a 2022 participant-focused evaluation of the program, finding that DAP has both improved street safety and cut back on the harms of the criminal legal system.

    Reducing Trauma

  • Publication

    The Driver Accountability Program: A Participant-Focused Evaluation

    In recent years, New York City has seen a steady and alarming increase in traffic-related fatalities. In 2021, the city saw over 50,000 traffic-related injuries and 273 traffic fatalities, marking a record high in fatalities since the Vision Zero NYC legislation was launched in 2014. Traditional legal system responses to driving-related incidents such as fines or incarceration not only fail to address the root problems but also frequently result in increased socioeconomic and racial disparities.

    Diversion
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