This study evaluated the safety impact of the new Referral Driving Performance Evaluation (RDPE) drive test program. The 3-year prior accident and citation rates for drivers taking the RDPE drive tests were compared to the general driving population and to drivers who passed the Special Drive Test (SDT) in an earlier DMV study. The results indicated that in every age and gender category except one, drivers in the RDPE program had much higher prior accident and citation rates than did drivers in general. This finding supported the department's policy of testing drivers referred for medical and other reasons. The prior accident rates for drivers who passed the RDPE tests were not significantly different from those for drivers who failed the tests. Hence, the validity of using RDPE test results as indicators of accident risk was not conclusively supported by the data. Contrary to expectation, drivers who passed the RDPE tests also had accident rates similar to those for drivers who passed the SDT, which indicated that the RDPE tests were no better than the SDT at distinguishing between higher- and lower-risk drivers. However, because the RDPE tests fail a much higher percentage of referral drivers than does the SDT, the tests do result in accident savings. (A)
Abstract