SURVEY: SAFE’s California Driving Laws Survey (English and español)

el cuestionario en español:
https://www.streetsareforeveryone.org/safe-events/driving-laws-survey

It’s easy to grumble, but do you want to take action to help make things better? Here’s one simple way to collaborate with others on making California roads safer.

Many California drivers don’t know some CA laws—e.g., that since 1 Jan 2023, drivers of all motor vehicles are to change lanes when passing someone on a bicycle whenever feasible, just as they would if passing a car.

Laws change. In addition, most drivers haven’t taken a driving test in many years, and people often haven’t retained what they learned back when they prepared for that test.

Bicycling Monterey and others help educate people who bike about sharing roads with drivers of motor vehicles. And to similarly educate people who drive, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (CA DMV) includes some share-the-road info in their California Driver’s Handbook—e.g., in Section 6, a portion about “Bicycle Lanes” https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/handbook/california-driver-handbook/navigating-the-roads/.

We just wish the California Driver’s Handbook and other driver’s education efforts by the state (e.g., California Highway Patrol / CHP’s Start Smart) prioritized continuing education about new or existing laws—in particular, the laws related to share-the-road rights of people who bike or use other active transportation!

If you drive in California (whether or not you also bike), we encourage you to take this survey:

How could the survey help? Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE) is doing a research project about California drivers’ knowledge of driving laws. SAFE’s goal is to have data on what driving law info drivers retain after taking their CA DMV driving test, and what newer laws they’re aware of.

After the survey has received sufficient responses, it’s planned that the data will be used to propose appropriate legislation regarding the California DMV providing continuing education on new and existing driving laws.

Sharing this post on social media? Project hashtags include #SafeRoads, #StreetsAreForEveryone, #DrivingLaws.