Lawmakers ask about alleged cheating on driving tests

"I appreciate the DMV's response and its commitment to protecting the integrity of the driver's licensing process,” state Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach and vice chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, told The Center Square via email. “However, these are serious and concerning allegations that warrant additional scrutiny. If these individuals took the written exam in person, were they properly monitored, and if so, why weren't these issues identified at the time? If the exams were taken online, what safeguards were in place to prevent misconduct?”

Strickland also wrote that he wants the state’s residents to have clear answers about the issue.

“When a state agency alleges widespread cheating involving thousands of drivers, it has a responsibility to explain how those conclusions were reached and what actions will be taken to protect the integrity of the testing process going forward, and to ensure these problems don’t happen again,” Strickland said.

According to a letter sent to DMV officials from Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose and chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, drivers who got the notice from the DMV were told they had to re-take the test within 30 days or their licenses would be canceled. Cortese wrote that he took issue with the DMV implying that drivers had cheated on their driver’s license test.

“The breadth of this action and the language used in the notice have generated significant concern among affected Californians,” Cortese wrote in his July 10 letter to the DMV. “Many recipients understandably interpreted the letter as implying they had cheated on the knowledge examination, despite the notice not expressly making that allegation or explaining the basis for DMV’s determination.”

Cortese added that, for some drivers, a trip to a DMV office is burdensome and that a suspension of someone’s license affects their daily life.

“Because the ability to legally drive is essential for many Californians to maintain employment, obtain medical care, and meet family obligations, actions that place a driver's license at risk should be supported by clear, objective, and transparent processes,” Cortese wrote to DMV officials.

Cortese did not answer calls from The Center Square this week.

State DMV officials did not make anyone available to answer questions from The Center Square. However, in emailed comments sent on Wednesday, the agency said routine internal monitoring identified testing irregularities that could have been caused by certain people cheating on their written driver’s license test.

“We want to be clear: although these particular test results have been identified as potentially problematic, receipt of a notice alone does not indicate a final determination that cheating occurred in that instance,” Jonathan Groveman, an information officer for the California Department of Motor Vehicles, said in an email to The Center Square. “Nonetheless, these irregularities are test taker related and not the result of an internal DMV technical issue, or involvement of artificial intelligence. Ensuring the integrity of the knowledge testing process is essential to public safety and to confirm that drivers understand California’s rules of the road.”

The Center Square reached out to 17 Democratic lawmakers, including Cortese, who sit on transportation committees in the Legislature. None responded to The Center Square for an interview. However, Assemblymember Laurie Davies, R-Oceanside and vice chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee, said through spokesman Tim Kearns that she supports an investigation into drivers who erroneously passed their driver’s license exam.

However, she added, “I question why the DMV has not been more forthcoming about what irregularities they found and how they came to find them. The department should outline clear and transparent objectives they are going to use in the future to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Californians deserve solutions, not another trip to the DMV.”