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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRN069 | 1976/ 01 |
Comprehensive Long Range PlanTo summarize the department's plans for improving its effectiveness and service to the public, using a management-by-objectives (MBO) approach and moving beyond the two-year budget cycle in planning. |
V | |
| 201 | 2003/ 01 |
Comparison of Accident and Conviction Rates for Commercial Drivers Tested Under the Employer Testing Program and Commercial Drivers Tested by DMVThe Employer Testing Program (ETP) allows eligible employers to conduct drive tests and issue the Certificate of Driving Skills (DL 170) to commercial vehicle operators they employ. To participate in the program, an employer must demonstrate that their driving test and examiners meet standards set by DMV. Employers in the program are subject to annual inspections and audits by the department’s Intrastate Audits Unit. If any deficiencies on the part of the employer are found, the department may impose restrictions ranging from warning letters to revocation or cancellation of the employer’s testing authorization. Approximately 980 employers participate in this program, 60% of which are in the government sector (e.g., fire departments and Caltrans). To help in monitoring the program, the department’s Research and Development Branch compared the driving records of licensed commercial drivers tested under the ETP to commercial drivers tested by DMV. The remainder of this paper presents the methods and results of the driver record analyses and a discussion of the findings. |
IV | |
| 215 | 2005/ 09 |
Clearing A Road To Driving Fitness By Better Assessing Driving Wellness:California’s Three-Tier Driving-Centered Assessment System – SummaryReportThis report describes the final development and validation of an integrated three-tier system for assessing drivers’ degrees of driving wellness (degree of freedom from driving-relevant functional limitations) and driving fitness (degree to which a driver compensates for any such limitations while actually driving). Both driving wellness and driving fitness are assessed in a driving-centered manner. Assessment tools recommended for use in each tier are described, as is the selection of two decision points (cutpoints) which separate drivers into three categories: pass ("driving-well"), "somewhat functionally limited", and "extremely functionally limited." Compared to elder renewal license applicants who were assessed as somewhat functionally limited, elder renewals assessed as extremely functionally limited were more likely to fail a structured road test, but less likely to have been crash involved in the last three years. Reasons for this apparent paradox, in which more functionally limited drivers have fewer crashes, are addressed in the report. The report describes in detail the flow of renewal license applicants through the three-tier assessment system and makes numerous recommendations, including that the three-tier assessment system be adopted on a pilot basis for further evaluation. |
II | |
| 216 | 2009/ 10 |
Clearing A Road to Being Driving Fit by Better Assessing Driving Wellness – Development of California’s Prospective Three-Tier Driving-Centered Assessment System (Technical Report)This report has two main purposes: (1) describe the development of California’s prospective 3-Tier driving-centered assessment system, and (2) present an “ecological perspective” on driver licensing. Driving-centered is an ecological concept—it means taking into consideration when, where, why, and how individual drivers customarily drive. Rather than an endpoint in delicensing drivers assessed as unsafe, 3-Tier fundamentally alters the purpose of assessment to be a starting point, if feasible, for extending the safe driving years of functionally-limited licensed drivers. The 3-Tier system integrates new assessment tools into those currently used by the Department of Motor Vehicles. All renewal applicants required to pass the department’s knowledge test are assessed on Tier 1, and those who are found to have a driving-relevant visual, mental, or physical limitation(s) are further screened on Tier 2. Based on these assessments, drivers are classified as driving well, somewhat functionally limited or extremely functionally limited; the extremely functionally-limited drivers are required to pass a Tier 3 road test to be licensed. The results of a small scale pilot study upon which the 3-Tier system was developed showed that somewhat-limited drivers, perhaps because they were less aware of their limitations, were more likely to be crash involved than extremely-limited drivers, who were probably more aware of their limitation(s) and compensated accordingly. In contrast, extremely-limited drivers were more likely to fail an office-based road test. The report concludes with 22 recommendations for statewide implementation of 3-Tier, including recommendations that the department’s R&D branch evaluate the reliability and validity of the current area drive test, and if needed, develop a better one, that this test be available to extremely limited drivers as an option for their Tier 3 road test requirement, and that the department educate somewhat-limited drivers about compensating for their limitation(s). |
II | |
| NRN017 | 1994/ 04 |
Class C Drive Test Baseline Study: Preliminary ReportTo obtain descriptive statistics on 30 DMV field offices in order to select six representative sites for a follow-up evaluation of the reliability of the current Class C drive test. |
II | |
| 209 | 2004/ 05 |
Characteristics of Negligent Operators in CaliforniaThis report presents descriptive information on the demographic characteristics and driving behaviorsof drivers who received the four levels of treatment within California’s negligent operator treatmentsystem (NOTS).Risk profiles are calculated for each treatment level by using historical information on their numbersand types of traffic accidents and convictions resulting in their assignment to the NOTS treatmentlevels. In addition, a risk profile is developed for a random sample of California drivers to facilitate abaseline for the four levels of NOTS treated drivers. |
III | |
| 242 | 2013/ 02 |
CHANGES IN DRIVER CANNABINOID PREVALENCE ASSOCIATED WITH IMPLEMENTING MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS IN 14 U.S. STATESThis study’s objective was to investigate whether implementing medical marijuana laws was associated with changes in cannabinoid prevalence among drivers involved in fatal crashes in California and 13 other states with medical marijuana laws implemented before 2010. Time series ARIMA analyses were used to calculate stateby-state estimates of the percentage-point change in cannabinoid prevalence among fatal-crash-involved drivers associated with implementation or modification of medical marijuana laws. The implementation of medical marijuana laws was found to be reliably associated with increased cannabinoid prevalence in only three states: California, with a 2.1 percentage-point increase in the percentage of all fatal-crash-involved drivers who tested positive for cannabinoids (1.1% pre vs. 3.2% post, which represents a 196% increase in cannabinoid prevalence relative to the pre-law level) and a 5.7 percentage-point increase (1.8% vs. 7.5%, or a 315% increase) among fatally-injured drivers; Hawaii, with a 6.0 percentage-point increase (2.5 vs. 8.5, or a 235% increase) for all drivers and a 9.6 percentage-point increase (4.9% vs. 14.4%, or a 196% increase) among fatally-injured drivers; and Washington, with a 3.4 percentage-point increase (0.7% vs. 4.1%, or a 455% increase) for all drivers and a 4.6 percentage-point increase (1.1% vs. 5.7%, or a 432% increase) among fatally-injured drivers. The increases in all three states were stable step increases, meaning that the prevalence increased to a new level in these states and remained relatively flat subsequently. No relation between the post-law cannabinoid prevalence change estimates and the ease of marijuana access rankings was found. |
VI | |
| 248 | 2014/ 10 |
Cellular Phone Distracted Driving: A Review of the Literature and Summary of Crash and Driver Characteristics in CaliforniaThe present study reviews the literature on cell phone-distracted driving including the effectiveness of legislative efforts to reduce the behavior. It also reports results of descriptive analyses characterizing crashes and drivers involved in police-reported, cell phone-distracted crashes in California. Cell phone use in the U.S. is widespread and increasing. People tend to support legislative efforts to limit the use of cell phones while driving despite the fact that many continue to engage in the behavior. Empirical and observational research consistently shows a negative impact of cell phone use on driving performance and crash risk. The present study extracted data from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System database pertaining to crashes that occurred between 2003 and 2011 in California. These data were examined at two levels: crash and driver. Crash analyses revealed that most crashes did not involve inattention. When they did, non-cell phone inattention was more common than cell phone inattention and hand-held cell phone use was more commonly associated with crashes than hands-free. The most common primary crash factor for cell phone-related fatal/injury crashes was traveling at an unsafe speed. A larger percentage of cell phone-related fatal/injury crashes occurred during the workweek than on the weekend, and more occurred in the afternoon than in the morning or night. Driver analyses revealed that 21 to 30 year-old drivers accounted for the largest percentage of drivers involved in cell phone-related fatal/injury crashes. Males accounted for more cell phone-related fatal/injury crashes than females. Finally, drivers reported as using a cell phone at the time of fatal/injury crashes were more likely to be found at fault, and were slightly more likely to be found at fault than those using hands-free devices. |
VII | |
| 234 | 2011/ 12 |
California’s Three-Tier Driving-Centered Assessment System – Outcome AnalysisThis Outcome Analysis constitutes the second of two reports on the 3-Tier Assessment System, as piloted by California DMV in 2006-2007. It contains (a) a projection of the costs associated with the Area Driving Performance Evaluation, (b) a determination of the willingness of a participant to pay a fee for the Area Driving Performance Evaluation, (c) a determination of the percentage of drivers who were assessed to have a limitation, but who, upon completion of the assessment, were able to retain their driving privileges, (d) the utilization of certified driving rehabilitation specialists, and (e) the results regarding crash rates and retention of driving privileges. Together, these analyses examine the effectiveness of the 3-Tier Assessment System in identifying functional impairments, reducing crashes, and extending safe driving years for California drivers of all ages. These analyses are based upon 2 years of elapsed driving history for the 12,279 customers who participated in the Pilot, along with two control groups: 14,907 customers in the Baseline II cohort, and 10,551 customers in the Nearby cohort. Based on limited data, an estimation is provided of the costs of the anticipated increase in the use of the ADPE, as associated with the 3-Tier Assessment System. Very few customers were willing to pay a fee for the ADPE. The overwhelming majority of customers, even those with functional limitations, were able to retain their driving privilege. No customers reported using certified driving rehabilitation specialists. The analyses found no evidence for a reduction in crash risk subsequent to participation in the Pilot; however, the analyses found some evidence that the Pilot is associated with an increased amount of time to complete the renewal process, with an increase in the odds of failing to renew the driving privilege, and with an increase in the odds of receiving a restricted license. Recommendations regarding implementation and future research are included. |
II | |
| 155 | 1995/ 08 |
California’s Negligent Operator Treatment Program Evaluation System, 1976-1995 (An Overview of Findings and Program Improvements)This report represents a chronological review of an evaluation system which was initiated in the early 1970's and which was terminated at the end of 1994. Originally known as the Post Licensing Control Reporting and Evaluation System (PLCRES ) and later as the Negligent Operator Treatment Evaluation System (NOTES), it produced a large number of evaluation reports over the period 1976-1995. In 1982, departmental research staff received the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Award of Honor in recognition of the contributions of PLCRES reports to evaluation research literature. |
IV |