Jim’s areas of expertise include behavioral studies in traffic safety, evaluating impaired driving countermeasures, research on underage drinking, and determining the effectiveness of various alcohol policies and safety issues associated with the legalization of marijuana in the states.

Jim is currently working on a variety of projects including the National Roadside Survey of 2025 in partnership with Dunlap & Associates and sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), consulting on a grant awarded to Klein Buendel entitled Policy and Training Intervention in Responsible Marijuana Sales Practices to Reduce the Risk of Selling to Intoxicated Customers, writing a manuscript on the importance of data from low and middle income countries for the AB-InBev Foundation (ABIF), consulting on a contract with the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (AAAFTS) to determine factors that influence seat belt usage, and working with Dunlap & Associates on updating a Guide for Successful Impaired Driving Task Forces sponsored by NHTSA.

Jim recently completed several other projects. State of Knowledge and Practice: Impaired Driving Technology, sponsored by NHTSA, involved a comprehensive literature review and investigation into the extent of use of the technology. Another project funded by NHTSA was Successful Impaired Driving Task Forces, which involves discussions with State Impaired Driving Task Force members to determine best practices. In addition, NHTSA also funded a project titled Examine Issues with Prosecuting Driving-Under-the-Influence-of-Drugs (DUID) Cases in which discussions with state prosecutors will document issues with prosecuting DUID. Jim also researched Public Acceptance of Underutilized Strategies in Traffic Safety, funded by the National Safety Council, which involved a survey of public support for specific countermeasures in traffic safety.

Jim has worked on several other notable projects over the years, such as a study of the minimum legal marijuana use age 21 laws and enforcement in California, (determining the prevalence of certain drugs found in the blood of serious and fatally injured drivers from seven trauma centers around the country), a public survey of underutilized strategies to reduce traffic fatalities, a special impaired driving enforcement effort in Maryland, and a study of DUI in Miami-Dade County (FL). 

During the 1990s, when states were considering lowering their illegal BAC limit for driving from .10 g/dL to .08 g/dL, Jim co-authored one of the first studies showing the effectiveness of laws lowering the BAC levels on reducing impaired driving fatal crashes. Subsequently, Jim was invited by officials in 12 states to provide expert testimony on the merits of lowering the BAC to .08 (DE, DC, IL, IN, MD, MN, MO, NE, NC, TN, TX, and WV). In 2000, President Clinton signed a bill providing a strong incentive for all states to lower the BAC limit to .08; all states and the District of Columbia eventually adopted the law. More recently, Jim collaborated with Dr. Robert Voas on various articles demonstrating the rationale and summarizing the evidence to lower the BAC limit from the current .08 g/dL to .05 g/dL. With co-author Michael Scherer, he conducted a meta-analysis of studies around the world evaluating various BAC limits. It was concluded that if the U.S. adopted a .05 BAC limit nationwide, it could save up to 1790 lives each year.

Based on an accumulation of his research studies and publications over many years, Jim was named to Stanford University's Top 2% Scientists in the World for 2023. He also received the Chairman's Award from the Washington Regional Alcohol Program for his contributions over many years as a member and treasurer.