SERVICES
SBES MAsters Work
Thesis: Feasibility of Restricted Driver Licenses for Suspended New Jersey Drivers
In 2010, there were nearly 7 million total registered drivers in New Jersey. Approximately 4% of these drivers had a suspended driver’s license. The intent of suspending a driver’s license is to keep hazardous drivers off of the roads, in hopes of having a safer driving environment for others on the road. Drivers in New Jersey can have their driver’s license suspended for a number of reasons. These include dangerous driving behaviors such as reckless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. However, there
are also reasons for suspension that have little or nothing to do with driver behavior, such as failure to pay child support, failure to pay MVC insurance surcharge, or failure to appear in court. While these offenses are all due of consequence, they have little or nothing to do with driver behavior.
The focus of my master's thesis was to conduct an analysis of the issues and implications of implementing a restricted-use license program for suspended New Jersey drivers, detailing key issues associated with restricted-use license programs. I found that over two-thirds of suspended drivers in New Jersey receive driver’s license suspensions for both driving and non-driving-related offenses, whereas only about four-percent of suspended drivers in New Jersey receive a driver’s license suspension for driving-related reasons only. It was also found that drivers suspended for non-driving related reasons have different driver behavior than drivers suspended for driving related reasons. Surveying both New Jersey police chiefs, as well as U.S. state motor vehicle agencies, it was found that there is a generally positive perception of restricted driver’s license programs. Overall, I recommended that the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission implement a restricted driver’s license program in New Jersey.
Working with Large Data
The most challenging aspect of my masters work was working with the very large NJ-MVC dataset. With nearly 7 million registered drivers, you can imagine why I needed a 2TB external hard drive to be able to understand all of the information this type of data was capable of providing. Much of my time spent towards my masters thesis involved creating efficient codes in C#, Matlab, and SAS that were capable of deciphering and exposing the statistics used to support the implementation of a restricted driver's license program in New Jersey.
Although this particular issue was dedicated for my masters thesis, I used these same computational skills towards other issues surrounding transportation safety research, including analyzing data from Event Data Recorders ("black boxes" of cars), designing algorithms for Advanced Automatic Crash Notification systems, and reducing accidents caused by drunk driving. Although my day-to-day work was often cut-and-dry computational tasks, the issues to which my work applied was very socially-oriented as it often surrounded controversial public safety issues. Although I did not see this until after joining my PhD program, I now realize my masters work sparked my passion towards applying my research work towards social issues of interest.
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View my LinkedIn profileCurriculum Vitae | Stephanie M. Kusano | skusano@vt.edu