Driving home for Christmas: Kids give mum the vote
A poll has shown that children believe their mothers are much better drivers than their fathers.
And last night, an Irish road safety expert urged parents to take note of their kids’ advice, saying sharing driving responsibilities would cut the number of accidents on our roads.
According to the survey, four in 10 children say they feel safer with their mother at the wheel during a rush-hour trip to the shops or to school. Fathers, on the other hand, are seen as risk-takers by seven in 10 children who think they are more prone to speeding, suffer from road rage and have the most near misses with other vehicles.
Budget Car Hire, which polled 1,000 children between the ages of six and 15, found that 68% of children believe their father is more likely to have an accident than their mother. Seventy-one per cent of them think their dads are more likely to speed, be fined more often (70%) and take the most risks (72%).
Conor Faughan, director of policy with AA Roadwatch, said he wasn’t surprised by the findings, as statistics prove that Irish men are involved in four times as many collisions as women.
“It looks like children are good judges, because all the accident and collision data will back that up.
“Male drivers tend to be higher risk-takers. And if a lesson is to be taken from this, men can be too assertive and aggressive at the wheel and need to slow down.
“I would estimate that out of 95 of 100 Irish families making long journeys home for Christmas, the husband will drive the whole way. But that means he would be far more prone to fatigue and likely to have an accident. The kids are right. Both parents should share responsibilities.”
However, safety isn’t the only reason why kids want mums to take over driving responsibilities.
The study also found that mothers have much better in-car entertainment. The majority of children prefer mum driving because she plays better music (37%), joins in car games (26%) and tells jokes (24%) more often than dad.
Keeping children involved during the journey goes hand-in-hand with them feeling safe, with children preferring their mother driving (40%) to their father (26%) for this reason.
But kids give their fathers the nod when it comes to reversing (64%) and parking (61%).
