Study Finds That Parents Are Actually The Worst Drivers
If you've ever thought that the times you've one-handedly broken up a kicking and screaming match between your kids in the backseat maybe weren't shining moments on your driving record, then you're absolutely right. And there's data here to support that.
A study done by the Australian insurance company AAMI found that parents were the most dangerous drivers out of everyone. That's a tough title to grab over your 16-year-old nephew who only steers with two fingers and sometimes locks his keys in the car. But hey, congrats for beating him out.
School Pick Up Time Is The Most Dangerous Time To Drive
Nobody likes sitting in the school pick-up zone and collecting our kids when we could be doing other more exciting things, like doing the literal mountain of things on our to-do list. But it turns out it's also more dangerous for you.
The AAMNI Crash index looked at over 340,000 car accident insurance claims from 2018-2019 and found that the riskiest time to be on the road is from 1 pm-4:30 pm. That's not rush hour and that's not the 2 am-3 am rush home after the bar—that's when you're trying to corral your kids into the car so you can all get home in one piece.
Over A Quarter Of Accidents Happen At Pick-Up Time
According to the AAMNI, of all the claims they analyzed, 27% of them were for the 1 pm-4:30 pm block. That means that your chances of having an accident during school pick-up times are much higher than they would be at any other time on the road.
And really, who's surprised by this? We all know how riled up our kids get the minute we stuff them in the car and how ready they are to fight with each other about anything and everything. It's even worse because we're tired too after working and running around all day, so their misbehavior is more likely to be distracting while we're trying to concentrate on the roads.
TGIF (Not Really)
By Friday everyone's pretty much done with whatever dumpster fire they had to deal with during the week and just want it all to be over. So it kind of makes sense people are driving more recklessly, but still, having a road accident on Friday afternoon isn't a part of my "fun" weekend plans.
AAMNI found that 16.5% of those afternoon claims came from Friday alone, making Friday the most dangerous day to be picking your kids up. We're not saying make them walk, that would just be cruel and you'd never hear the end of it, but we should all be paying better attention on the road at all times.
How You Can Make Pick-Up Safer For Everyone
You shouldn't let these stats scare you. In fact, they should make you more eager to be a more aware driver. While you can't control when, about what, and how loud your kids will start screaming at each other over pudding flavors in the backseat, you can control your driving. Here's how.
Make sure you drop-off and pick-up your kids in the designated school areas, always pull over to the curb to let your kids off, always obey the school speed limit zones, and pull over if you need to reach into the backseat (to break up a fight). We know you're not the problem and that your PTA friend Karen is, but if we all follow these rules the roads will be much safer.
