Research Studies & Reports
DMV’s Research & Development Branch has been conducting research and producing studies and reports since the 1950s. Research & Development reports help DMV to measure the impact of new laws on making drivers safer. We also identify areas where we can improve our processes, explore new approaches to solving existing problems, and branch out into new opportunities to serve you better.
Studies & Reports Sections
Studies and reports are assigned to a Section that best describes the type of report. Click on a section title below to see a short description.
I. Driver Education & Training Studies
II. Driver Licensing Screening Studies
III. Studies on Improvement and Control of Deviant Drivers
IV. Basic Research & Methodological Studies: Driver Performance, Accident Etiology, Prediction Models, and Actuarial Applications
V. Driver Licensing / Control Systems & Safety Management Studies
VI. Studies on Special Driver Populations
VII. Miscellaneous Studies & Reports
Request printed copies of studies and reports by mail at:
Department of Motor Vehicles
Research and Development Branch
2415 1st Ave. Mail Station: F-126
Sacramento, CA 95818
(916) 914-8125
Please include the report number, the number of copies requested, and your name, address, and phone number.
| Report ID | Date Published | Title | Section | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 132 | 1990/ 10 |
Summary of Proceedings of the Conference on Driver Competency Assessment, October 24-26, 1990, San Diego, CaliforniaTo present presentations given at this conference, which represents the second phase in a long-range effort to enhance the competency of the California driving public. |
VII | |
| NRN059 | 1993/ 01 |
Strengths and Limitations of Accident Data in a Drivers License SettingTo elucidate for the transportation research community the importance and limitations of using accident data in making driver licensing decisions. |
IV | |
| NRN053 | 1987/ 10 |
Strategies for Increasing the Traffic Safety Potential of the Negligent Operator Point SystemTo explore and evaluate several strategies for identifying high-risk drivers based upon different definitions of negligent-operator point count. |
IV | |
| 183 | 1999/ 07 |
Strategies for Estimating Driver Accident Risk in Relation to California’s Negligent-Operator Point SystemA sample of approximately 140,000 records of licensed California drivers containing information on age, gender, and driving record variables was examined. The goal of this paper was to assess the accuracy of predicting future accident risk using various combinations of demographic and prior driving record variables as predictors in 17 regression models. All of the models were consistent in demonstrating that increased probability of subsequent accident involvement is associated with increased prior citation and prior accident frequencies, being young, and being male. Results from the regression models indicated the following: • Models that use prior total accidents as a predictor variable perform better than models that do not use prior total accidents as predictors. • Models that use prior culpable accidents as a predictor do not perform as well as models that use prior total accidents as a predictor. • A comparison of models in which 17 individual violation types are used as predictors to those in which only total citations is used as a predictor shows only a small advantage of using individual violation types. • Models that use as predictors the demographic variables of age, gender, and license class along with various combinations of citations and accidents perform better than California’s current neg-op system, which uses a weighted combination of countable citations and responsible accidents. It was concluded that if the goal of driver record adjudication systems is to identify and apply sanctions to high-risk drivers in order to intervene before this risk is realized, then the results presented in this report support the current pointcount strategy which attempts to optimize the identification of drivers having a high probability of subsequent accident involvement. |
IV | |
| 225 | 2008/ 03 |
Statewide Evaluation of Commercial Drivers License Written Knowledge TestsThis report presents the results of an evaluation of the written knowledge tests administered to applicants for a commercial driver license or endorsement. The report presents the fail rate, mean number of errors, and internal‐consistency reliability coefficient for each test form, as well as the pass rate, item‐choice selection rates, and item‐total correlation for each test question on each test form. Items that need to be reviewed for possible rewording or replacement are identified. Additional recommendations for improving the testing process are also provided. The results are based on 8,576 test sheets completed in all California Department of Motor Vehicle field offices from November 27, 2007 to December 31, 2007. |
II | |
| NRN100 | 1988/ 04 |
Standardization of Production Rates for Comparing Field OfficesTo develop practical examples of standardization techniques for use in DMV field offices and headquarters units. |
VII | |
| 82.1 | 1986/ 01 |
Senior Driver Facts – Report 82.1To provide a quick reference on the characteristics of senior drivers. |
VI | |
| 82 | 1986/ 01 |
Senior Driver Facts – Report 82To provide a quick reference on the characteristics of senior drivers. |
VI | |
| NRN023 | 1981/ 10 |
Review of “An Appraisal of San Diego County SB 38 Participant DUI Recidivism and Traffic Accident Involvement”To communicate to the drunk driving rehabilitation community some evaluation defects in the above study which limit the conclusions that can be reached, and to increase knowledge of evaluation research methodology. |
III | |
| NRN082 | 1993/ 01 |
Reportable Medical Conditions and Driver RiskTo describe California's medical reporting law, discuss the literature on medical conditions and crash risk, and present crash rates of California's medically impaired drivers and some aspects of how California DMV deals with medically enhanced driver risk. |
VI |