THE NORTH CAROLINA TEST WAIVER LAW: AN EVALUATION OF ITS IMPACT

The evaluation has examined (1) the effects of the legislation on overall driver licensing activity, (2) the impact of the law on violations and accidents to determine whether the new procedures result in differential screening of applicants, and (3) the subsequent driving performance of applicants to determine whether the new program shows any incentive or reward effect. Both operator and chauffeur applicants were examined, although the program was extended to include chauffeurs almost a full year after it had been applied to operators. In addition, a small group of high mileage chauffeurs were identified and the crashes they were involved in were examined. Operators and chauffeurs vary greatly in their distribution over three driver record categories (clean, no violation; soiled, small number of less serious violations; dirty, high activity records or serious violation). When the per applicant population rates for violations were examined, it was found that clean drivers showed a positive or at least non-detrimental effect of the test waiver program, with the possible exception of young drivers who showed an increase in certain types of violations. When accidents rates were examined it was found that both young drivers (including clean) and dirty drivers fared worse under the test waiver program. When similar data for chauffeurs were analyzed, the major finding was that the test waiver program was associated with a decrease in the accident rate for males with dirty records and thus was benefitical. The chauffeurs, must perform at a higher level on both knowledge and road testing in order to pass the examinations. Thus it is possible that the road test for operators may be more useful if a more stringent passing score is required as in the case of chauffeurs. The analysis of infraction rates based on reported mileage examined applicants within mileage quartiles based on the mileages reported by the population. For both operators and cahuffeurs differences were found among the three driver record groups both before and after renewal, with clean drivers showing the lowest infraction rates, followed by soiled and then dirty drivers. The differences among groups subsequent to renewal were not so great those prior to renewal. /Author/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Sponsored by North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  Highway Safety Research Center
  Chapel Hill, NC  United States  27599
• Authors:
  • Waller, P F
  • Hall, R G
  • Padgett, S S
• Publication Date: 1977-4

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 98 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Data analysis; Driver licensing; Driver performance; Driver records; Drivers; Laws; Mathematical analysis; Operators (Persons); Personnel performance; Testing; Traffic crashes; Traffic violators
• Uncontrolled Terms: Mileage; Motor vehicle accidents; Operator
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00178725
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Safety Council Safety Research Info Serv
• Report/Paper Numbers: Final Rpt.
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 29 1978 12:00AM