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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 74 | 1980/ 04 |
Application of Audio-Visual Presentation and Various Feedback Methods to Drivers License Testing: An Evaluation of Learning EffectsTo develop and demonstrate the effectiveness of an audio-visual driver's license testing program. |
II | |
| IM1 | 1993/ 09 |
Pilot of the Driving Performance EvaluationTo determine the consistency of the test examiners in scoring the Driving Performance Evaluation (DPE) drive test. |
II | |
| NRN007 | 1983/ 06 |
Pilot Test of the Written Words and Phrases TestTo evaluate the written Words and Phrases Test (DL-140) and provide test and item statistics. |
II | |
| NRN008 | 1983/ 07 |
Evaluation of Ambulance Driver Knowledge TestTo evaluate the Ambulance Driver Examination (DL-5J) and to provide test and item statistics. |
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 | |
| 106 | 1986/ 05 |
Licensing Novice Motorcyclists: A Comparison of the Traffic Safety Impact of California’s Standard Test and the MOST II (Motorcycle Operator Skill Test) Administered at Centralized Testing OfficesTo clarify issues raised in the Anderson et al. study, "Improved Motorcyclist Licensing and Testing Project," to answer the following two questions: 1) Would the MOST II reduce accidents and convictions when compared to California's standard skill test? 2) Would there be an accident reduction which was independent of the reduction in instruction permit and license issuance rates resulting from the inconvenience of being required to travel to another location to be tested? |
II | |
| 149 | 1995/ 05 |
An Evaluation of California’s Commercial Driver License Drive TestThe federal government requires states which permit third-party testing of commercial drivers to determine whether these tests are equivalent to those given by the state driver licensing authority. To meet this requirement, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) plans to sample commercial driver license (CDL) applicants tested by their employer, retest them at DMV, and compare the fail rates for the employer and DMV tests to determine if they are equivalent in difficulty and reliability. In order to make this determination, it is necessary to estimate the reliability and other psychometric properties of the California DMV CDL test. Without this information, it is not possible to determine whether differences between the DMV and employer test exceed what would be expected from repeat administration of the CDL test by DMV. |
II | |
| 152 | 1995/ 06 |
Vision Testing of Renewal Applicants: Crashes Predicted when Compensation for Impairment is InadequateThis study addresses the enhanced vision test system component of a departmental plan to increase the competency level of the California driving population. Five experimental vision tests were administered to 3,669 randomly selected Class C renewal applicants in three field offices. The objective was to identify the vision tests showing the most promise for further validation in a large-scale statewide study. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that the relationship between vision test scores and crash involvement varies depending on applicant's age, general visual ability, and reported level of self-restriction. It was recommended that (1) management consider referring all DMV Snellen test fails to a vision specialist through the DL 62 process, (2) cross-validate the most promising tests (Pelli-Robson low-contrast acuity and perceptual reaction time assessment) in a large-scale demonstration project, and (3) continue research on developing improved assessment tests and protocols for drivers with age-related impairments. |
II | |
| 154 | 1995/ 08 |
An Evaluation of the Validity of California’s Driving PerformanceEvaluation Road TestThis report presents findings of an evaluation of the validity of the Driving Performance Evaluation(DPE) road test that was piloted in 30 California Department of Motor Vehicles field offices. Thestudy represents the fourth stage in a four-stage project to develop an improved competency-baseddrive test for possible statewide implementation. The DPE was found to have construct validity asdemonstrated by experienced good drivers having had significantly lower fail rates and mean pointscores than did inexperienced drivers and drivers with physical or mental disabilities that affected theirdriving. The evaluation also found the DPE to be more difficult than the current drive test, with failrates of 45.6% and 26.2% for the two tests, respectively. The DPE was also found to take 11 minuteslonger to administer than did the current drive test. The impact on test validity of severalmodifications to shorten the DPE test time was also evaluated. |
II | |
| 177 | 1998/ 05 |
Evaluation of the Referral Driving Performance EvaluationProgram—Follow-Up ReportThis study evaluated the safety impact of the new Referral Driving Performance Evaluation (RDPE) drivetest program. The 3-year prior accident and citation rates for drivers taking the RDPE drive tests werecompared to the general driving population and to drivers who passed the Special Drive Test (SDT) in anearlier DMV study. The results indicated that in every age and gender category except one, drivers in theRDPE program had much higher prior accident and citation rates than did drivers in general. This findingsupported the department’s policy of testing drivers referred for medical and other reasons. The prioraccident rates for drivers who passed the RDPE tests were not significantly different from those for driverswho failed the tests. Hence, the validity of using RDPE test results as indicators of accident risk was notconclusively supported by the data. Contrary to expectation, drivers who passed the RDPE tests also hadaccident rates similar to those for drivers who passed the SDT, which indicated that the RDPE tests wereno better than the SDT at distinguishing between higher- and lower-risk drivers. However, because theRDPE tests fail a much higher percentage of referral drivers than does the SDT, the tests do result inaccident savings. |
II |