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Removing Transportation Barriers to Employment: The Impact of Driver's License Suspension Policies on Milwaukee County Teens

by John Pawasarat, Employment and Training Institute, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, February 2000.

The full report is available as a scanned PDF file.

This report examines the impact of current driver's license suspension and revocation policies on teenagers in Milwaukee County and central city Milwaukee neighborhoods. It is part of a series of public policy studies on barriers to employment for Milwaukee area workers. The research focuses on the special problems of youth in securing and keeping valid driver's licenses due to municipal and circuit court fine and forfeiture collection policies.

Central city Milwaukee teenagers enter the labor market with several disadvantages. They reside in neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of job seekers compared with available job openings, and they lack the work experience of other job seekers. Additionally, many of the job openings available to entry-level workers are located in Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington Counties and portions of Milwaukee County beyond the bus lines or not easily accessed by public transportation. Teenagers and young adults with a driver's license and access to a car can tap into jobs outside their neighborhoods and seek out employment in industries with greater opportunities for advancement.

Prior state legislation allowed municipal and circuit courts to place driver's license suspensions on juveniles who failed to pay fines for curfew violations, underage drinking, jaywalking, and other violations. In most cases, suspensions were placed on juveniles who had not yet obtained a driver's license. This study uses Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) driver's license and suspension and revocation files to determine what happened to suspended teens as they reached working age and to describe differences in policy impact by neighborhood.

Driver's License Status of Central City Teenagers (Ages 16-18) as of January 1999

Analysis of the driver's license status of all Milwaukee County teenagers ages 16-18 in the Wisconsin Department of Transportation files in January 1999 showed that:

  • A total of 9,046 Milwaukee County youth had suspensions recorded against them. Most suspensions (89 percent) were issued to city residents and 64 percent were issued to teens from central city neighborhoods.

  • State policies permit local governmental units to place a hold on DOT driver's license applications for non-payment of juvenile and civil forfeitures unrelated to the operation of a vehicle. Most suspended teens (87 percent) had suspensions solely for non-payment of fines.

  • Nearly all (93 percent) of suspensions were given to teens without a driver's license.

  • Multiple suspensions are common, and before a license can be obtained the youth must pay all fines plus a $50.00 reinstatement fee. By January 1999, 21,743 suspension orders were issued for Milwaukee County 16, 17 and 18 year olds, and 97 percent were for failure to pay fines and civil forfeitures (of which 17,649 were for juvenile fines).

  • City of Milwaukee teens were much more likely to be suspended than to have a valid driver's license to such an extent that now more teens have a suspension than a valid driver's license.

  • Many youth drive while suspended. Most (71 percent) Milwaukee County teens with driver's license revocations (1,304 out of the 1,828 total) received the revocation for driving while suspended.

  • In central city Milwaukee zipcodes, for every male teen with a valid license there are three males with a suspension or revocation; for every female teen with a valid license there are two females with a suspension or revocation.

  • Suburban teens were much less likely to be suspended with seven teens having a license for every one with a suspension.

License Status of Male Teens
License Status of Female Teens

Table 1: Driver's License Status of Milwaukee County Teens by Age and Location as of January 1999
Teens in Central City* Milwaukee: Non- Central City Teens in Milwaukee: Milwaukee County Suburban Teens:
16 Yr 17 Yr 18 Yr 16 Yr 17 Yr 18 Yr 16 Yr 17 Yr 18 Yr
Females
With driver's license and no suspension/revocation
56
344
542
139
591
855
365
1,231
1,396
With suspension/revocation
610
750
845
229
273
338
47
93
125
Males
With driver's license and no suspension/revocation
63
364
479
136
600
789
311
1,225
1,371
   With suspension/revocation
873
1,131
1,418
331
477
587
90
177
255
*Includes Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) neighborhoods of zipcodes 53204, 53205, 53206, 53208, 53210, 53212, 53216, 53218 and 53233.

What Happens to Teenagers Suspended for Not Paying Juvenile Fines?

To determine what happens to teenagers suspended for not paying juvenile fines, an analysis was conducted of the 4,708 Milwaukee County teens who were 16 and 17 years old and showed driver's license suspensions for non-payment of juvenile fines in the January 1997 DOT file.

The January 1999 DOT files were used to determine what had happened to the 4,708 teens (given suspensions for non-payment of juvenile fines) two years later when they were 18 and 19 years old.

Driver's License Status of Central City Milwaukee Teens

The driver's license status of teenagers in central city neighborhoods was examined by zipcode to assess driver's license status for male and female teens ages 16-18, as of January 1999.

Table 2: Driver's License Status of Central City Male Teens (Ages 16-18 Years) as of January 1999
Zipcode
Total Teens in DOT File*
Teens with Suspensions or Revocations
Teens with Valid License and No Suspensions or Revocations
% with a Clear License
53204
638
528
110
17%
53205
257
230
27
11%
53206
689
613
76
11%
53208
633
502
131
21%
53210
517
411
106
21%
53212
531
459
72
14%
53216
423
262
161
38%
53218
564
349
215
38%
53233
75
68
7
9%
TOTAL
4,327
3,422
905
21%
*Does not include teens with instructional permits.

Table 3: Driver's License Status of Central City Female Teens (Ages 16-18 Years) as of January 1999
Zipcode
Total Teens in DOT File*
Teens with Suspensions or Revocations
Teens with Valid License and No Suspensions or Revocations
% with a Clear License
53204
378
300
78
21%
53205
130
106
24
18%
53206
493
410
83
17%
53208
485
355
130
27%
53210
415
281
134
32%
53212
363
298
65
20%
53216
384
192
192
50%
53218
434
214
220
51%
53233
65
49
16
25%
TOTAL
3,147
2,205
942
30%
*Does not include teens with instructional permits.

Funding support for this study was provided in part by the Helen Bader Foundation. For further information, contact the Employment and Training Institute, University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, 161 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 6000, Milwaukee, WI 53203. Phone (414) 227- 3385. Other driver's license studies are available at www.uwm.edu/Dept/ETI/dot.htm.

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Updated March 2008
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