Safe Transportation Research & Education Center

Similar to the survey waves since 2020, the 2023 California Traffic Safety Public Opinion Study was conducted by Ewald & Wasserman Research (E&W) on behalf of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center of UC Berkeley (SafeTREC), with an online self-administered survey. Survey panelists were provided through Marketing Services Group, a commercial sample and panel vendor. 

The eligibility criteria for participating in the study were possessing a valid California driver’s license and being 18 years or older. Eligible respondents were forwarded to an online survey portal programmed and managed by E&W. To manage the sample composition and to ensure a similar distribution of age and gender compared to the California census and previous waves of the Traffic Safety Study, quotas by gender and six age groups were implemented. 

Participation in the survey was anonymous, and a total of 2,815 responses were collected in April, 2023. 

This report describes the findings of the 2023 Traffic Safety Public Opinion Study, along with a comparison of previous years of data, which include opinions from a representative sample of California drivers on a range of factors affecting traffic safety.