UC Berkeley

The Traffic Safety Public Opinion Study is conducted annually for the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center at UC Berkeley (SafeTREC). Eligible participants were California drivers aged 18 years and older. As in previous years, predetermined quotas were established by age and gender; however, the 2026 study used more detailed age categories aligned with U.S. Census data.

For the 2026 version of the Traffic Safety Public Opinion Study, a substantially larger cross-section of 10,014 drivers were surveyed between June and July 2026. Panelists were recruited through Marketing Services Group, a commercial sample and panel vendor. Pre-screened respondents were forwarded to a brief 10-minute self-administered web survey programmed and managed by Ewald & Wasserman Research.