Young drivers represent a high-risk group worldwide, with their overrepresentation in road trauma placing substantial pressure on health and economic systems. Their crashes are often linked to risky driving behaviors, accentuating the need for reliable instruments to assess these patterns. The Behavior of Young Novice Drivers Scale (BYNDS) was developed to comprehensively assess multiple dimensions of risky driving behavior in drivers aged 17–29 years; however, it has not yet undergone cross-cultural validation. Aim This study aimed to conduct a comprehensive cross-cultural validation of the BYNDS and examine differences in risky driving behaviors among young drivers from Low- and Middle-Income (LMIC) and High-Income (HIC) countries. Method Data were collected from a cross-sectional sample of n = 3,989 young drivers aged M = 22.25 years, of whom 52 % were male and 48 % female. Participants completed the BYNDS, a 44-item behavioral questionnaire administered across 12 countries (48.6 % LMICs; 51.4 % HICs) spanning five continents. Results The findings indicate that the BYNDS supports a five-factor structure with good fit indices, strong factor loadings, and acceptable reliability, and invariance between countries of different income levels. Furthermore, the validated BYNDS-42 (comprising 42 items distributed across five factors) also showed the ability to distinguish between drivers with and without self-reported crashes or traffic fines. Conclusion This study provides robust evidence supporting the cross-cultural validity and reliability of the BYNDS, reinforcing its value as a tool for assessing young driver behavior. These findings offer empirically grounded insights that can inform behavioral interventions aimed at improving young drivers’ road safety.

The Attention-Related Driving Errors Scale (ARDES) is a self-report measure of individual differences in driving inattention. ARDES was originally developed in Spanish (Argentina), and later adapted to other countries and languages. Evidence supporting the reliability and validity of ARDES scores has been obtained in various different countries. However, no study has been conducted to specifically examine the measurement invariance of ARDES measures across countries, thus limiting their comparability. Can different language versions of ARDES provide comparable measures across countries with different traffic regulations and cultural norms? To what extent might cultural differences prevent researchers from making valid inferences based on ARDES measures? Using Alignment Analysis, the present study assessed the approximate invariance of ARDES measures in seven countries: Argentina (n = 603), Australia (n = 378), Brazil (n = 220), China (n = 308). Spain (n = 310), UK (n = 298), and USA (n = 278). The three-factor structure of ARDES scores (differentiating driving errors occurring at Navigation, Manoeuvring and Control levels) was used as the target theoretical model. A fixed alignment analysis was conducted to examine approximate measurement invariance. 12.3 % of the intercepts and 0.8 % of the item-factor loadings were identified as non-invariant, averaging 8.6 % of non-invariance. Despite substantial differences among the countries, sample recruitment or representativeness, study results support resorting to ARDES measures to make comparisons across the country samples. Thus, the range of cultures, laws and collision risk across these 7 countries provides a demanding assessment for a cultural-free inattention while-driving. The alignment analysis results suggest that ARDES measures reach near equivalence among the countries in the study. We hope this study will serve as a basis for future cross-cultural research on driving inattention using ARDES.

The Behaviour of Young Novice Drivers Scale (BYNDS) is a self-report instrument to assess risky driving behaviours among youth population. Although previous studies have offered evidences of reliability and validity for the BYNDS scores, results are not conclusive as regards its factor structure. The aim of this research was to assess the factor structure of the BYNDS via Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA). The BYNDS was administered to a sample of 832 drivers aged from 18 to 25 years (Argentina = 270, Colombia = 350, and Mexico = 212). Six models were examined: three derived from previous literature, one emerged from an exploratory factor analysis, a unidimensional model, and a bifactor model. Results showed that none of the models analysed offered a completely acceptable fit to the data. However, the original model hypothesizing five orthogonal factors showed the best fit indices, with all of the items loading onto the associated factor. Results of the bifactor analysis suggested that three of the subscales (transient violations, fixed violations, and misjudgements) share a strong common basis and their scores would not offer much information above and beyond the total score. On the contrary, the items in the subscale of risk-exposure are clearly influenced by a specific domain factor, contributing to the multidimensionality of the BYNDS. In line with previous studies, males scored higher than females in driving violations, fixed violations, and risk-exposure. This study contributes to the psychometric refinement of a novel measure of risky driving in youth population. This self-report could be a valuable tool in the evaluation of road safety performance.