Bad driver? You can blame your parents for that, study finds
Children are mimicking their parents' behaviour behind the wheel. Photo: Getty
Parents cop a lot of flak from their adult children about the bad habits they instilled during childhood.
Now bad drivers can get in on the action, with research showing bad driving might be hereditary.
A study by UK-based firm Scrap Car Comparison analysed the driving records of bad drivers and people with a clean driving history, and compared them with the records of their parents.
The findings revealed 66 per cent of drivers who have broken road laws were like their parents who had done the same.
Just 26 per cent of rule-breaking drivers had parents with clean driving records.
One in four drivers feel they have learnt bad driving habits from their parents, and the main ones were speeding, road rage and bad parking.
Deadly consequences
Poor driving can have devastating consequences, ranging beyond fines to injury or death.
March saw 107 road deaths in Australia, a figure that is 2.3 per cent higher than the average for March over the previous five years.
The total road death toll during the 12 months ending in March was 1204 – representing a 5.9 per cent year-on-year increase.
Males and automobile drivers (as opposed to motorcyclists and pedestrians, for example) were consistently the majority of road deaths over the past five years, Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics data shows.
Scrap Car Comparison operations manager David Kottaun said it’s no surprise parents’ driving habits rub off on their children, and influence their behaviour behind the wheel.
“Many of us spent our formative years in the passenger seat of a parental figure’s car, and so will have subconsciously picked up on both good and bad traits, when it comes to driving a vehicle,” he said.
“The most important thing, however, is safety.
“So no matter how someone else in your life has driven, when in control of your own car, it’s essential to follow the rules of the road to keep yourself, your passengers and other road users safe.”
Risky habits
The younger generation seems determined to break the cycle of bad driving, with 55 per cent of UK motorists feeling they have grown up to be a better driver than their parents – and the study’s comparison of children’s and parents’ driving records backs up this sentiment.
However, that doesn’t mean young people aren’t engaging in risky behaviour.
A 2018 national study of young Australian aged 16 to 17 found that eight in 10 P-platers and more than half of learner drivers engaged in some form of risky driving during their 10 most recent driving trips.
The research by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) found the most common types of risky driving by these groups were speeding and driving when very tired.
The study found parents’ behaviour played a role in the risky driving habits of Australian teens.
Although other factors also came into play, such as personality traits or living situations, Australians aged 16 to 17 with a parent who had problems with the police or a court appearance in the past year were more likely to engage in:
- Speeding
- Driving when tired
- Driving without a seatbelt
- Driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
“Teens who had been a passenger of a driver under the influence were much more likely to drive under the influence themselves, showing that the attitudes and behaviours of parents and friends can have a strong influence on young people’s driving behaviour,” AIFS director Anne Hollonds said.
Australian drivers are also getting distracted on the roads, with Finder’s 2021 Safe Driving report revealing almost half of Australian drivers had eaten at the wheel.
Australian drivers admitted to other poor habits behind the wheel, ranging from texting to changing clothes.
Poor driving prompts changes
With Australia’s road death toll rising, state and territory governments are looking for ways to improve driver behaviour – with Queensland even considering forcing drivers to undertake a driving test when renewing their licence.
“It’s not designed to be some big onerous test that everyone’s going to have to spend lots of time on,” Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey said.
“It’s designed to be a refresher course, that people would look to do in an easy online way, that gives you a good review of what’s happened in the last four or five years since you got your licence last time.”
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