You’ve likely seen a lot of publicity over the years telling you how dangerous it is to use your cell phone while driving. There are even laws in place that punish those caught doing it. This is because it is incredibly dangerous because of the distraction it causes.
It’s unlikely, however, that you have ever seen a campaign telling you not to carry your children in your car. There is certainly no law against it and there’d be outrage if anyone ever tried to suggest there should be. So, does that mean that children are not a risk to drivers? Unfortunately not.
A study by Monash University Accident Research Centre found that children were 12 times more distracting to the person driving them around than talking on their phone was.
Children are harder to ignore
Most adults have ignored their phones at some point. They’ve let them ring, not looked when a new notification sounded or simply stuck them in their bags out of sight. You can’t do the same with the children, especially small ones who tend to hate it when you ignore them, especially if you are their parent. Ignoring a child usually results in them amping up their attempts to get your attention. The more you try to ignore them, the more distracting they will become.
Children can be an issue even when they are behaving. Merely having a nice chat with them, or looking in the rearview mirror to check if they are still asleep will take your focus away from the road.
Driving with children in the car is a necessary part of life for most parents. While you might feel terrible if you are in a collision with a driver carrying children, it’s worth considering whether they were paying attention to the road or were distracted by their kids.