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Busby v. State2/1/2002
No. 1785
Thomas Busby is a former Alaska resident whose driver's license was revoked while he was living here. Busby later moved to Nicaragua, where he obtained an international driving permit under the provisions of the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic.
The United Nations Convention on Road Traffic is a multi-national treaty governing non-commercial international vehicular traffic. In Chapter V of this treaty, the signatory countries agree to grant reciprocal recognition to driver's licenses issued by the other signatory countries - although the countries can require that foreign drivers obtain and carry an "international driving permit" that is organized and printed in conformity to a model prescribed in an appendix to the Convention. Busby obtained such a permit while living in Nicaragua.
In 1998, Busby drove from Central America to Alaska. On October 28th, a state trooper stopped him outside of Talkeetna for a traffic violation. During the stop, the trooper discovered that Busby's Alaska driver's license was revoked, so Busby was charged with (and subsequently convicted of) the misdemeanor of driving while his license was revoked, AS 28.15.291(a).
Busby asserts that even though his Alaska driver's license was revoked, he was still entitled to drive in Alaska because he had the international driving permit. But as we explain in more detail below, the Convention on Road Traffic does not preclude the State of Alaska from enforcing license revocations imposed under Alaska law. Signatory countries retain the authority to enforce their traffic laws, to take action against the licenses of motorists who violate those laws, and to forbid a motorist from driving within their territory if the motorist's privilege to drive has been suspended or revoked.
The Convention does forbid a signatory country (or subsidiary state) from imposing or enforcing license revocations in a manner that discriminates against residents of other signatory countries. But Busby does not claim that he was the victim of such discrimination. Busby's license was revoked for conduct that would have led to license revocation if committed by an Alaska resident. (Indeed, Busby's license was revoked while he was an Alaska resident.) And Busby does not claim that he was singled out for prosecution because he was a resident of a foreign country - i.e., that the State would not have charged him with the offense of driving with a revoked license if he had still been an Alaska resident.
For these reasons, we uphold the State of Alaska's authority to prosecute Busby for driving while his license was revoked.
General description of the 1949 United Nations Convention on Road Traffic
To "promot the development and safety of international road traffic", the United Nations drafted a Convention on Road Traffic to regulate non-commercial vehicular traffic moving between countries. (In this opinion, certain pertinent provisions of the Convention are quoted verbatim. The full text of the Convention is found in United States Treaties and Other International Agreements, Vol. 3, Part 3, pp. 3010-3021.)
The United States has signed the Convention on Road Traffic. The Convention is therefore part of our federal law, and the provisions of the Convention supersede any contrary state law.
According to Article 1, Section 1 of the Convention, each signatory country "reserv its jurisdiction over the use of its own roads" but "agrees to the use of its roads ... under the conditions set out in Convention". The Convention governs several aspects of international vehicular travel, from road signs to license plates to red refle
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