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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
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    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
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      <title>Strategies to Reduce Crashes for Young Drivers Not Covered by Graduated Driver Licensing Restrictions






</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2570613</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Some states have observed a growing percentage of young people delaying driver licensure until age 18 or older, along with a declining percentage of teens ages 16–17 obtaining driver licenses. Delay may be due, in part, to their desire to avoid the restrictions, requirements, and costs associated with graduated driver licensing (GDL), which generally applies only to new drivers under the age of 18. 

There are some indications that 18- and 19-year-old drivers who are not covered by GDL restrictions have the highest rate of injury and fatal crash involvement among all young drivers within their first year of licensure. The delay in licensure may be a contributing factor. 

To help address this safety concern, policy proposals have been submitted that focus on increasing the age of driver training requirements and/or GDL restrictions to novice drivers age 18 and older. Research is needed to develop a better understanding of (1) the safety implications associated with delaying driver licensure beyond ages covered by state GDL laws and (2) potential strategies to reduce crash rates for 18- and 19-year-old drivers within their first year of licensure who are not covered by GDL restrictions.

The objective of this research is to develop a guide that identifies potential strategies for consideration by state driver licensing agencies and state highway safety offices (SHSOs) to reduce crash rates for young drivers currently not covered by GDL restrictions. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2025 13:54:43 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2570613</guid>
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      <title>Driving Futures: Empowering Tribal Communities through CDL Training Hub and Infrastructure Sustainability</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2447298</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project outlines the benefits of establishing a testing hub for certifications such as Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDL) and Heavy Equipment Operator (HEO) certifications. The creation of a centralized testing hub will increase convenience and efficiency for candidates by streamlining administrative processes, providing standardized evaluations, and ensuring quality assurance and integrity in assessments. This hub will serve as a focal point for educational resources and training opportunities for both CDL and HEO candidates.

By facilitating collaboration among tribal schools, workforce development organizations, and other stakeholders, the testing hub will contribute to economic growth while improving safety standards within the transportation and heavy equipment industries. The project aims to establish a testing hub at United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) to benefit students and professionals from tribal schools across North Dakota.

The project will impact various sectors, including transportation education, workforce development, and safety standards, ultimately leading to a more efficient and effective workforce. This testing hub will support both CDL and HEO certification processes, creating a centralized and standardized approach that benefits candidates, local industries, and the region as a whole.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 03 Nov 2024 17:45:26 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2447298</guid>
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      <title>Older Novice Driver Naturalistic Driving Study</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2444669</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Graduated Driver Licencing (GDL) laws are the most effective behavioral countermeasure for young drivers. However, while an increasing proportion of young people are delaying licensure, few States apply the full GDL program to novices 18 and older. Licensure delays are more likely among Hispanic, Black, and lower socioeconomic status (SES) young people, raising the possibility of inequities in which novices receive the benefits of GDL. However, because little is known about the safety and driving habits of novices ages 18 to 20, questions remain about whether and how to extend GDL. This project involves collecting naturalistic driving data from younger (15.5 - 16.5) and older (18 - 20) novice drivers in their first 12 months of licensure. While all participants will have naturalistic driving data collected using a smartphone app, a subset of participants will also have data collected from equipment installed in their personal vehicles. The contractor will use these data to answer research questions related both to older novice drivers—about which little is known—and predictors of the ‘trajectories’ of safe or risky driving that novices follow as they gain experience. The results will inform potential countermeasures for older novice drivers and driver education.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 21 Oct 2024 14:44:50 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2444669</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>NICC’s CDL and Safe Driver Training Program Yr1-3</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2342028</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Nebraska Indian Community College (NICC) is a minority serving land grant institution with four campuses: The college’s Macy Campus is on the Omaha Reservation; the Santee Campus is on the Santee Reservation while the unban campus is in South Sioux City (all situated in USDOT Region 7). NICC also operates a fourth campus in conjunction with the Pawnee Nation in Oklahoma. Transportation safety is a major concern on Native American reservations. NICC will create a safe driving institute, offering free driver education and training on safe operation of personal and commercial vehicles. The project will create safer travel conditions on reservations and alleviate the acute nationwide commercial motor vehicle driver shortage.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:45:18 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2342028</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Disparities in Access to Driver Education for Teens as a Health and Mobility Equity Issue</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2292667</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Teens who complete behind-the-wheel (BTW) driver education (DE) are able to secure early licensure and are less likely to crash in their early years as a motorist. Disparities in accessibility to BTW DE are therefore disparities in health outcomes (crashes) and mobility (i.e., ability to secure early licensure). The following research grant is to support a stream of research focused on disparities in access to BTW DE, and therefore, safe driving skills and early licensure, for teens. Using inferential statistics and non-parametric statistical techniques, the team will identify economic, racial, and spatial disparities in accessibility to BTW DE by correlating individual data with propensity to engage in DE (Aim 1). The research team will further investigate the disparities in the acquisition of specific safe driving skills by linking individual data with VDA results (Aim 2). As disparities in accessibility to BTW DE are disparities in health outcomes and mobility, the team's research will uncover an actionable way forward to directly address healthy and mobility equity. The research team has assembled a completely novel database of over 18,000 Ohio teens, which includes the following individual-level data: state licensing data, crash data, and DE completion data; household-level data matched with transportation urban planning-related open data; and results from the Virtual Driving Assessment (VDA), a virtual driving skills measurement test the researchers' broader team at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia administers to learner drivers. Advanced spatial modeling techniques allow us to collect Socio-economic status data related to home address, and calculate impedance to the nearest DE center.  The research team's project will investigate the following:   Aim 1: Identify individual factors that are most strongly correlated with a teen engaging in BTW DE and early licensure. The research team's early findings at the census tract level tell us that average income is most correlated with a teen pursuing BTW training and early licensure; variables such as activity density and travel distance to BTW DE are also correlated, but more slightly. By matching home address with home value data, the research team assembles the data set that allows us to test the hypothesis directly that income is the strongest predictor of a teen engaging in BTW DE and pursuing early licensure. Moreover, the research team hypothesizes that an individual’s race, as well as details related to the density of their neighborhood (i.e., the collocation of activities), is related to their propensity to engage in BTW DE/early licensure, with BTW DE completion being lower among minority teens. If the research team's hypotheses are correct, it will showcase the deep disparities in who is most like to avoid a crash outcome and the mobility that comes with early licensure.   Aim 2: Identify individual factors that are most strongly correlated with specific acquisition of safe driving skills. The research team has proved the direct correlation between BTW training completion and reduced crash rates in teens; they aim now to correlate the acquisition of specific safe driving skills with the completion of BTW training. The research team's hypothesis is that teens who have completed BTW DE are both overall less risky drivers and have a stronger ability to scan for and respond to hazards/other road users. If the research team's hypotheses are correct, it will showcase the criticality of training drivers from a public health perspective, for individual well-being and to reduce threats to all road users.   This project is a collaboration between the University of Pennsylvania Department of City and Regional Planning, the Children Hospital of Philadelphia, and the State of Ohio Department of Public Safety.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 21 Nov 2023 18:07:37 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2292667</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Evaluation of Motorcycle Licensing and Training Requirements</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1996240</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Motorcyclists account for a disproportionate number of overall traffic fatalities. Past efforts to improve motorcycle safety have largely focused on helmets, rider impairment, and operator training. Another potential focus area - motorcycle licensing procedures - has received less attention, despite being identified as a prospective focal point by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Motorcycle licensing requirements differ considerably across states with regard to tiered licensing practices, rider education, testing requirements, permit restrictions, and other aspects.
Some studies have found that more restrictive licensing elements, such as requiring a skills test to obtain a permit, are associated with reductions in motorcyclist fatalities. However, research in this area has been limited and is somewhat out of date, which hinders the ability to assess best practices. Potential changes to motorcycle licensing procedures seldom gain traction, as most states lack the financial resources to investigate best practices. NTSB has concluded that motorcycle licensing practices have not been sufficiently evaluated with regard to their effectiveness and impact on rider safety.

The objectives of this project are to (1) evaluate the current state of the practice for motorcycle licensing in the United States and (2) develop recommendations for improvement based on the latest empirical data. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 21 Jul 2022 13:01:16 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1996240</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Tracking State Traffic Citation and Adjudication Outcomes</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1492254</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of this research was to develop a methodology that enables and facilitates tracking of cases from citation/arrest to final disposition. The research (1) examined and documented state traffic adjudication/disposition efforts that (a) identifies current practices in all states for tracking cases from citation/arrest to final disposition (including driver history); (b) identifies commonalities and differences in state practices; (c) describes current challenges and gaps in data collection, quality, tracking, and sharing; (2) suggested methods for data sharing, permissions, and accessibility; and (3) developed a toolkit of innovative strategies to facilitate communication between state highway safety offices and adjudication decision makers.
 
Completed. The final report is available here: 
https://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/182903.aspx]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 19 Dec 2017 14:27:01 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1492254</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Using the Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Card as a National Driver's License</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1233121</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project will utilize the infrastructure and investment provided by the federal government in support of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12, to provide cost-effective solutions to citizens holding drivers licenses. The major expense in deploying PIV cards is the labor associated with in person identity proofing. As citizens requiring drivers licenses must appear at some point in person, the major expense is already addressed.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:51:21 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1233121</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Senior Safety: Senior-Based Licensing and Testing</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1228128</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This research will conduct some case studies and delve into timing issue.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:15:10 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1228128</guid>
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