Strategies Young Adults Use to Curb Distracted Driving
Abstract
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 three focus groups (N = 6) to gauge different strategies used. Participants were recruited from student announcements (for an Amazon gift card) and through SONA (for research credit). Audio was recorded after consent was obtained. Participants shared strategies used to combat distracted driving and barriers to implementation. From these responses, 24 items were generated. In Study 2, we will administer these items to a large sample of young adult drivers, and use exploratory factor analysis and other item analysis for scale development and validation. This scale can be used to examine how the Health Belief Model applies to distracted driving.