Effects of Adding Safe Driving Content to Written Law Tests Administered to Original Drivers License Applicants: An Evaluation of the Original Applicant's Written Test Component of California's Selective Testing Program

摘要

A group of original California driver license applicants, composed of experienced (out-of-state) drivers and inexperienced (first time) applicants were administered new expanded written licensing tests that tested vehicle code law knowledge and knowledge of other safe driving principles. A control group received standard Department of Motor Vehicles law tests following standard procedures. Two passing standards were evaluated for each test series. This experiment was one of a series that evaluated a program of selective testing of drivers' license applicants according to the quality of their driving records or other factors related to expected collision and conviction frequencies. Because no identifiable safety benefits appeared likely from adopting the expanded law and safe driving forms but additional costs would be incurred, it was recommended that this component of the selective testing program not be implemented.