Loopholes Plague State System for Identifying Bad Drivers

Identifying good drivers and bad drivers is critical to maintaining safe highways. But California’s system--operated by multiple government agencies and private companies--appears hobbled by loopholes, troubled by a lack of common standards and not always able to deliver equal justice.

Most drivers know about the system in which accidents and citations are counted as points on their driving record. But which record and whose points?

It turns out that two agencies in California have point systems that operate for different purposes and under different sections of state law.

The Department of Motor Vehicles is the point keeper when it comes to identifying negligent drivers. And it is the DMV that makes the decision to revoke a license.

The Department of Insurance is the agency that operates the point system used to determine who gets a good-driver discount and who can be denied insurance.

Numerous local police agencies and private insurance companies decide to award points that are tabulated and put on computerized databases operated by the two agencies. But not all the police and insurers are on the same wavelength when they forward data to Sacramento.

The way the DMV and the insurance department operate their point systems and how they decide what counts as a point is different. In many cases the two systems overlap, but sometimes they operate in separate universes.

The systems can fail to catch all information on a problem driver and can impose tougher sanctions on drivers in some jurisdictions than on equally bad drivers in other jurisdictions. In some cases, drivers can get points even when there is no verdict or admission of guilt.

The DMV gets reports of vehicle accidents from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, a database operated by the California Highway Patrol. The accident reports generally include a finding of fault, which is used by the DMV to assess points even when there is no court conviction.

The DMV also adds points to driving records based on moving violations that do not involve accidents. It obtains that data from old-fashioned computer tapes generated by municipal court systems, which themselves are backwaters of information technology.

Under the DMV system, accidents, speeding or other similar moving violations contribute one point to a driver’s record, said Jacqueline Zeigler, program administrator for driver safety at DMV headquarters.

A conviction for driving under the influence contributes two points. The DMV can suspend a license when a driver gets four points in 12 months, six points in 24 months or eight points in 36 months.

At-fault accidents count as one point, but the DMV acknowledges that it doesn’t know about all accidents. Many police agencies do not go to the scene of an accident unless there are injuries, meaning no report is written.

Motorists are supposed to notify the DMV of all accidents, a requirement that is widely disregarded, Zeigler said. In those cases, the driver is “off the hook for the point count,” she said.

Another inconsistency is that some police agencies refuse to issue a citation for an accident unless a police officer was a witness, while other police agencies aggressively issue citations solely based on after-the-fact evidence and statements taken by the investigating officer.

Meanwhile, the folks at the Department of Insurance have their own system to award discounts for good drivers, a standard 20% reduction of the premium if the driver has at most one point on his or her record.

That system is based on insurance companies’ reporting of their customers’ accidents and violation records.

Nobody knows exactly how many drivers get the good-driver discount--another remarkable information void in the system.

According to one Insurance Department official, the agency believes 93% of all California drivers get the discount.

But industry officials say such a high figure is impossible because teenagers, who don’t qualify for the discount, make up more than 7% of drivers in the state.

Under state law, insurers may issue a point based on the DMV violations records and on their own determination of fault in accidents.

But the way insurers determine fault is far different from the way police agencies do so.

So the DMV can assess a point against a driver for an accident, basing its decision on police reports, but the insurer can determine that the driver was not at fault in the same accident and decide not to assess a point, said Bruce Patton, staff counsel at the Insurance Department.

Oddly enough, a driver can get zapped for an insurance premium increase under state law and still qualify for the good-driver discount on the higher bill, said Pete Moraga, a spokesman for the Insurance Information Network of California. Even a so-called good driver can be surcharged for one accident and keep the good-driver designation.

Moraga acknowledges that the system is complex, though he added: “I don’t think it is as bad as the tax code.”

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Ralph Vartabedian cannot answer mail personally but responds in this column to automotive questions of general interest. Write to Your Wheels, Business Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. E-mail: ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com.