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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 1979/ 06 |
An Evaluation of Waiving the Driving Tests for Selected Graduates of Driver TrainingTo determine if it was plausible, without a reduction in screening quality, to permit the schools to certify students as meeting the requirements for a driver's license instead of requiring a driving test administered by DMV. |
I | |
| 77 | 1981/ 12 |
An Evaluation of Three Alternative Formats for Probation Violation HearingsTo develop and evaluate new formats hearings which incorporate behavior caseload-scheduling approach. for negligent operator probation violator modificatiol1 principles and a client |
III | |
| 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 | |
| 163 | 1996/ 03 |
AN EVALUATION OF THE TRAFFIC SAFETY RISK OF BIOPTIC TELESCOPIC LENS DRIVERSThis report compares the 2-year accident and citation rates for 609 drivers who must wear a bioptic telescopic lens (BTL) device when driving with those for a randomly selected comparison group of 28,109 drivers. The criterion measures were statistically adjusted using age and gender as covariates. The results indicate that the adjusted total and fatal/injury accident rates for the BTL group were 1.9 and 1.7 times higher, respectively, than those for the comparison group. However, an opposite result was found for total citations; the adjusted rate for the BTL group was 0.7 of the adjusted rate for the comparison group on this measure. All of the differences were statistically significant. The differences in the adjusted means were even greater when only drivers with valid licenses were considered. These findings suggest that BTL drivers do not sufficiently compensate for their higherrisk status. The study also found that the department's policy of restricting BTL drivers from driving at night was followed for only 35% of the BTL subjects. The department is in the process of correcting this operational deficiency. |
VI | |
| 108 | 1986/ 07 |
An Evaluation of the Traffic Safety Impact of Provisional Licensing; Interim Report to the Legislature of the State of California – In Accord with Senate Bill 48To evaluate the traffic safety impact of California's Provisional Driver License Program. The primary goal of the program is to reduce the rate of traffic accidents and traffic violations involving 15- through 17-year-olds in California. |
II | |
| 116 | 1988/ 12 |
An Evaluation of the Traffic Safety Impact of Provisional LicensingTo evaluate the traffic safety impact of California's Provisional Driver License Program. The primary goal of the program is to reduce the rate of traffic accidents and traffic violations involving 15- through 17-year-olds in California. |
II | |
| 95 | 1986/ 12 |
An Evaluation of the Specific Deterrent Effects of Alternative Sanctions for First and Repeat DUI Offenders (Volume 3 of “An Evaluation of the California Drunk Driving Countermeasure System”)To evaluate the relative effectiveness of the licensing actions and sanctions established by Assembly Bill (AB) 541 on January 1, 1982 for first and repeat DUI offenders. |
III | |
| 171 | 1997/ 11 |
An Evaluation of the Specific Deterrent Effect of Vehicle Impoundment onsuspended, Revoked and Unlicensed Drivers in CaliforniaWhile license suspension/revocation has been shown to be effective, it is also known that most suspended/revoked(S/R) drivers violate their illegal driving status and continue to drive, accruing traffic convictions and becominginvolved in crashes. In an attempt to strengthen license actions and to better control S/R and unlicensed drivers,California enacted two laws effective January 1995 which provide for the impoundment/forfeiture of vehicles drivenby S/R and unlicensed drivers. The current study evaluates the impact of vehicle impoundment on the 1-yearsubsequent driving behavior of S/R and unlicensed drivers who are subject to it.The subsequent driving records of drivers whose vehicles were impounded were compared to a very similar groupwhose vehicles were not impounded. These group comparisons were done for both first offenders (e.g., those withno prior driving while suspended (DWS)/driving while unlicensed (DWU) convictions) and repeat offenders. Theresults showed that impounded first offenders had 23.8% fewer DWS/DWU convictions, 18.1% fewer trafficconvictions and 24.7% fewer crashes than non-impounded first offenders. These group differences are even largerfor repeat offenders. Impounded repeat offenders had 34.2% fewer DWS/DWU convictions, 22.3% fewer trafficconvictions and 37.6% fewer crashes than non-impounded repeat offenders. These findings provide strong supportfor impounding vehicles driven by S/R and unlicensed drivers. |
III | |
| 96 | 1986/ 01 |
An Evaluation of the Process Efficiency and Traffic Safety Impact of the California Implied Consent Program (Volume 4 of “An Evaluation of the California Drunk Driving Countermeasure System”)To identify problems in the implied consent (IC) system and to evaluate its impact on traffic safety. |
III | |
| 195 | 2002/ 05 |
AN EVALUATION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF IGNITION INTERLOCK IN CALIFORNIACalifornia law requires judges to sentence offenders convicted of driving on a DUI-suspended driver license (DWS-DUI) to install an ignition interlock device (IID) on any vehicle that they own or operate. In addition, repeat DUI offenders can reduce their suspension period by half and obtain a restricted license by installing an IID. This report presents the results of a process study of the degree to which California’s IID laws have been implemented. The process evaluation consists of several components. DWS-DUI and DUI offenders were tracked through law enforcement, DMV, court and ignition installer records to obtain data on rates of DWS convictions, court-IID orders, IID installations and offender success on the IID program. In addition, DMV records were utilized to obtain data on court-IID orders throughout the state, over time and jurisdictions. Finally, judges, district/city attorneys and offenders were surveyed to obtain data on barriers to the use of IIDs, and attitudes and opinions of the devices. The results of the process studies showed that DWS conviction rates were less than 20%, courtIID order rates for DWS-DUI convictees, for whom such an order is required by law, were only about 25%, and only a minority of offenders ordered to install a device complied and installed an interlock. In addition, relatively few repeat DUI offenders chose to obtain a restricted license by installing an IID. While some recommendations are made for improving the current IID countermeasure system, it is strongly recommended that the current IID laws remain unchanged until the r |
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