Distracted driving is a well-established risk for young drivers, as they have disproportionately higher vehicle fatalities relative to miles driven. Although many studies have examined the danger of distracted driving, less is known about countermeasures young drivers use to protect themselves from getting distracted. Study 1 included focus groups of young adult drivers to learn different strategies used. From these responses, 25 items were generated. In Study 2, we administered these items to a larger sample of young adult drivers (N = 157). Using exploratory factor analysis (including scree plots, Velicer’s MAP, Cronbach’s alpha, item loadings), we determined a unidimensional structure. Countermeasure use was curvilinearly related to distracted driving. Future research can use this scale to examine how the Health Belief Model applies to distracted driving.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/reu2021_psychology/1010/thumbnail.jp
