THE WRITTEN DRIVER-LICENSING EXAMINATION AS A TECHNIQUE IN DRIVER SELECTION

TENTATIVE STANDARDS FOR DRIVER LICENSING WERE PROPOSED BY THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY SAFETY AGENCY IN FEBRUARY 1967. THESE STANDARDS REQUIRE THAT DRIVERS BE REEXAMINED AT LEAST EVERY FOUR YEARS FOR VISUAL ACUITY AND KNOWLEDGE OF SIGNS, SIGNALS, AND LAWS OF THE ROAD, AND THAT THE EXAMINATION ON THE LAWS OF THE ROAD BE WRITTEN. THIS STUDY WAS CONDUCTED IN ILLINOIS TO OBTAIN A VALID AND RELIABLE INSTRUMENT CAPABLE OF TESTING A PERSON'S KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE MATERIAL IN THE ILLINOIS RULES OF THE ROAD. TO CONSTRUCT AND ANALYZE A NEW WRITTEN DRIVER-LICENSING EXAMI- NATION REQUIRED THAT A NUMBER OF FACTORS BE CONSIDERED IN PLANNING THE RESEARCH DESIGN, BECAUSE IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO CONTROL ALL THE VARIABLES INVOLVED, THE FOLLOWING AS- SUMPTIONS CONCERNING THE INFORMATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE TESTING INSTRUMENT WERE MADE: (1) THAT THE QUESTIONS USED WERE A VALID SAMPLE OF THE ILLINOIS RULES OF THE ROAD, (2) THAT THE WEIGHTING OF THE QUESTIONS BY THE BOARD OF EXPERTS WAS VALID ACCORDING TO THE CRITERIA USED, (3) THAT ALL FORMS OF THE TEST WERE PARALLEL FORMS, (4) THAT THE TESTS WERE ADMINISTERED FAIRLY AND EQUALLY TO ALL APPLICANTS (5) THAT ALL APPLICANTS WERE GIVEN SUFFICIENT TIME TO COM- PLETE THE TEST WITHOUT UNDUE TIME PRESSURE, (6) THAT THE APPLICANTS FOR THE DRIVERS' LICENSES HAD AT LEAST AN EIGHT- GRADE READING SKILL, (7) THAT THE SAMPLE OF TEST WAS A VALID ONE, (8) THAT THE SCORING OF THE TESTS WAS ACCURATE, (9) THAT THE APPLICANTS REPRESENTED THE BASIC ABILITIES OF APPLICANTS THROUGHOUT THE STATE. AN ITEM ANALYSIS OF THE DATA COLLECTED FROM THE TEST SCORES INDICATE THAT THE FINAL FORM OF THE EXAMINATION IS ONE THAT CAN DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUALS WHO DO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE ILLINOIS RULES OF THE ROAD AND THOSE WHO DO NOT. THE MEAN SCORES OF THE FIVE TEST FORMS USED MADE A SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENCE STATISTICALLY AND, THEREFORE, ADJUSTMENTS NEED TO BE MADE ON THE PASSING SCORE FOR EACH FORM. THE RESULTS OF THE MULTIPLE-REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF THE CRITERIA SCORES INDICATE THE NEED FOR FURTHER RESEARCH IN THE AREA OF SIGNIFICANT EXTERNAL CRITERIA. THE READABILITY LEVEL OF THE EXAMINA- TIONS IS A LITTLE HIGH BECAUSE THEY COME FROM THE ILLINOIS RULES OF THE ROAD. A FEW CRITERIA WERE INDICATED THAT WARRANT FURTHER STUDY.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr107/107-003.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Corporate Authors:

  Highway Research Board (HRB)

  Washington, DC   
• Authors:
  • Conley, John A
  • Huffman, Warren J
• Conference:
  • Second Western Summer Meeting
  • Location: Salt Lake City Utah, United States
  • Date: 1969-8-11 to 1969-8-13
• Publication Date: 1970

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 15-33
• Monograph Title: Highway safety
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Special Report
  • Issue Number: 107
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Driver licensing; Drivers; Driving tests; Highway safety; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Selection and appointment; Standards; Technical writing; Traffic regulations; Vision
• Uncontrolled Terms: Driver selection; Traffic laws
• Old TRIS Terms: Driver vision
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Law; Research; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00220864
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jul 21 1970 12:00AM