Pursuant to House Bill 561, the Commission on the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program (VASAP) convened a work group to evaluate Virginia's impaired-driving laws and programs. The review combined a fifty-state statutory comparison, stakeholder input, and examination of program operations to assess public safety, prevention, and alignment with national highway safety guidance.

The evaluation found that Virginia has a strong statewide system for offender education, treatment referrals, ignition interlock oversight, and compliance monitoring. VASAP links local programs with courts, licensing authorities, and treatment providers and serves as a national model. Recent reforms clarify Commission authority and local accountability, while creating opportunities to improve consistency and coordination.

Despite these successes, several legislative, data, and safety gaps were identified where Virginia currently falls short of national best practices and peer states. Virginia has the shortest administrative license suspension period for both BAC and refusal-based violations for DUI offenders in the country. While often credited as having an all-offender DUI ignition interlock requirement, a significant loophole exists that allows many first-time offenders to avoid this requirement - even under aggravating circumstances. It was also found that individuals convicted of reckless driving, but suspected of having alcohol or other drug involvement, may also avoid ignition interlock requirements, treatment, and offense tracking for multiple DUI offenses under the current system. Virginia fails to meet NHTSA's funding requirements for an alcohol open container law, which costs the Commonwealth flexibility in spending federal resources. This report makes several statutory recommendations to address these public health areas and bring Virginia into alignment with national best practices. This includes increasing the initial administrative license suspension period, requiring ignition interlocks as a condition of license reinstatement, and strengthening Virginia's open container law.

Drug-impaired driving, especially given the rapidly shifting cannabis legalization and retail sale landscape in Virginia, presents additional challenges for detection, prosecution, and prevention. The report supports continued training for law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges; broader toxicology testing to better identify drug use, including use in combination with alcohol; and statutory authorization for oral fluid drug testing. These recommendations enhance the tools available to address this growing and complex issue.

The report also addresses data gaps, financial assistance, and ASAP program consistency. Traffic safety data remain siloed within the Commonwealth. A comprehensive review of data collection, sharing, and public access is recommended. Finally, two VASAP considerations are recommended. Judicial waivers for VASAP costs can place a burden on the ASAPs relying on this funding; a review is recommended to examine eligibility for financial assistance that directly includes VASAP in the eligibility process. Given the recent legislative enhancements to VASAP, it is also recommended that an evaluation be conducted to assess consistency across ASAPs.