It has been well-documented that in proportion to their numbers, young drivers suffer more traffic accidents and fatalities than drivers of any other age group. One reason for this is found in their attitudes toward risk-taking. The purpose of this study was to create a valid, reliable, and practicable instrument to measure these attitudes in young people just beginning to drive, or about to begin; and to explore potentially helpful intervention before harmful attitudes are acted out on the road. The instrument that was developed is called the Young Driver Attitude Scale (YDAS). This report contains a discussion of the steps taken in creating the YDAS, comments on the meaning and use of YDAS scores, and presents the results of a limited exploration of associated interventions. (A)
Abstract