It is the hearing officer’s responsibility to determine whether you as the driver were responsible and whether a collision could have been avoided.

In a hearing, your driver’s record alone is not enough to find you responsible for a collision. Other direct evidence, such as your testimony, is used to establish responsibility.

DMV is required to prove your responsibility for a collision. Proof may be established by the driver’s statements, or by reviewing the collision report. If proof establishes non-responsibility for the collision, DMV will correct the record.

The following collision details may help in determining collision responsibility:

• Road type.
• Surface condition of the road.
• Speed (before and after the collision).
• Legal speed limit.
• Traffic (heavy, medium, or light).
• Distractions (pedestrians, special event, radio, inattention).
• Weather (fog, rain, snow, clear, clouds, wind).
• Controls (signals, signs, or none).
• Collision type (multi-vehicle, fixed object, pedestrians).
• Vehicle type (car, truck, motorcycle, tractor/trailer).
• View/visibility.
• Condition of vehicle (tires, brakes, lights, signals).
• Point of impact (front, rear, side).
• Direction of travel.
• Time and day of week.
• Damages to vehicle and/or property.
• Injuries.
• Violations (Vehicle Code, Penal Code, Health and Safety, etc.)
• Sobriety.
• Physical condition.
• If either driver appeared in court, what was the conclusion of any discussion about collision involvement?
• Reaching for something in the vehicle, eyes taken off the roadway, sun glare.

Mitigating circumstances, or issues that can lessen the degree of negligence, will be weighed against the amount and seriousness of negligence shown by your driver’s record and your testimony.

Plans for Improvement/Corrective Measures

At a hearing, you may offer testimony that you believe lessens the degree of negligence shown by the record. The best evidence describes the specific, reasonable steps that are taken to discourage “backsliding” (falling back into prior bad behaviors).

Hardship

In some cases, you may present a mitigating circumstance such as hardship. Hardship may include situations where:

• You are a major contributor or sole provider of your family income.
• Alternative transportation is not available for significant, routine activities, such as school, medical treatments, or employment.

Physical and Mental Conditions

In some cases, your driver’s record may indicate a possible P&M condition related or unrelated to the negligent operation. If a P&M condition is uncovered through your testimony, and it appears to be an immediate driving hazard, your driving privileges may be immediately suspended or revoked. CVC §13953

Aggravating circumstances in a driver’s record or which become apparent at a hearing may be considered by the hearing officer as a reason for not reducing the action and must be balanced against any mitigation presented.

Aggravating circumstances which the hearing officer may wish to weigh include:

• Responsible collisions.
• A driving history which indicates a disregard for traffic safety.
• Major (two point) violations.
• The history or potential severity of the consequence of driving errors. For example, the driver’s responsibility for the safety of passengers or transportation of hazardous materials, which, in the event of a collision, may result in injury, death or extensive property damage due to fire or explosion.
• If the driver’s record contains a long history of driving violations and/or at-fault collisions, a stronger action may be required to motivate lasting change. However a driver’s record which indicates only a few recent violations may not indicate the need for a strong sanction.
• A driver who has attended Traffic Violator School more than once and who continues to violate traffic laws may require a more severe sanction.
• Prior negligent operator actions may indicate that a driver is unwilling or unable to drive in a reasonable and prudent manner.
• A history of multiple court appearances and court suspensions/probations for driving offenses, may indicate the driver is unlikely to respond to minimal NOTS action.
• Prior violations for driving when suspended or revoked may indicate the driver’s unwillingness to abide by the terms of restriction or suspension.

If you are a Class C or M driver and you are presumed to be a negligent operator under VC §12810.5, DMV may issue restrictions for employment as a condition of probation, under VC §12812.

In addition, VC §2813 permits DMV to issue any restriction needed to ensure safe driving. Restrictions may be issued for employment and non-employment purposes.

A restriction to allow driving under limited conditions may be appropriate when evidence of hardship related to use or mileage is presented or implied.

The following factors will be considered in determining if and what type of restriction is appropriate:

• Would granting the restriction compromise traffic safety (based on factors such as the severity and pattern of the driver’s record, plan for improvement, and/or acceptance of traffic safety responsibility)?
• Is it consistent with the evidence of need presented?
• Can it be understood by the driver, law enforcement, and the courts?
• Can it be enforced?

• Under VC §40508, when a driver fails to appear in court to have a traffic violation adjudicated, the court reports the violation to DMV as an FTA violation.
• An FTA is not assigned a point count because it is not a conviction; however, it may be used as supplementary evidence of negligence.

Possible decisions regarding the driving privilege at the conclusion of the hearing include: