What's more, one-quarter of these suspended drivers have been drinking or using drugs before they crash.
And when these collisions occur, it's far more likely that someone will suffer a serious injury or die than in crashes involving licensed drivers.
These are the key findings of a yearlong investigation by the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. The newspaper found that suspended drivers -- while they represent a small minority of all motorists -- are involved in a disproportionately large number of serious crashes on Maine's roads and highways.
And more than 2 years after a fatal crash on Interstate 295 focused attention on the issue, the dangers persist, despite efforts by legislators, state bureaucrats and police to keep suspended drivers from getting behind the wheel.
To reach these conclusions, the newspaper analyzed records from about 160,000 motor-vehicle crashes that occurred from 2003 to 2006 using a statewide database obtained through Maine's Freedom of Access Act; examined hundreds of individual driving records; and interviewed scores of motorists, victims, traffic safety researchers, policymakers and law enforcement officials.
The newspaper's analysis showed:
When suspended drivers are involved in crashes, the likelihood that someone will die is six times greater than when properly licensed drivers crash. The newspaper's analysis found that 20 people are killed for every 1,000 crashes involving suspended drivers, compared with just three deaths for every 1,000 legal drivers in crashes.
When suspended drivers crash, there is a four times greater likelihood that someone will suffer an incapacitating injury, which is defined as one that keeps the person from performing normal activities, such as walking or driving, at least initially. Seventy-five people suffer incapacitating injuries for every 1,000 suspended drivers in crashes, compared with 17 people for every 1,000 legal drivers in crashes.
Suspended drivers are 10 times more likely than legal drivers to have been using drugs or alcohol at the time of a crash. For every 1,000 suspended drivers involved in crashes, about 270 of them had been using drugs or alcohol, compared with 27 out of every 1,000 licensed drivers involved in accidents.
Just 1.4 percent of all drivers in the roughly 160,000 crashes from 2003 to 2006 had a suspended or revoked license, yet they accounted for 4.2 percent of drivers in crashes where someone was killed or seriously injured.
David Henderson, executive director of the Safety & Health Council of Northern New England, a traffic safety advocacy group, said he was astounded after reviewing a summary of the newspaper's findings.
"The accident and death statistics in Maine resulting from suspended-driver crashes are truly astonishing, and very sad when realizing that many of these accidents could have been prevented," Henderson said in a statement. "These statistics reveal a major public safety issue that must be addressed."
Paul Gaspar, executive director of the Maine Association of Police, said the findings underscore the importance of keeping suspended drivers off the road. "I think it sends a clear message to the public that the issue is a serious one," he said.
Pat LaNigra, whose daughter, Tina Turcotte of Scarborough, died as a result of injuries she received in the July 2005 crash on I-295, said in an e-mail: "If this doesn't show that more should be done about suspended license drivers, then I don't know what would. Obviously more must be done."
In response to the newspaper's findings, Gov. John Baldacci said that the numbers are "certainly higher than we would like to see" but noted that the state has made improvements to help stop the problem.
"The state has made great strides in recent years to stop suspended drivers from driving on Maine's roadways," Baldacci said in an...
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